


The Captain, the Doctor and the Sith

by EmpireMurderer



Series: The Captain and the Doctor [2]
Category: Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Adventure, Badass Phasma, F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-29
Updated: 2018-03-29
Packaged: 2019-04-14 16:08:24
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 33,022
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14139618
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EmpireMurderer/pseuds/EmpireMurderer
Summary: Captain Phasma embarks on a dangerous mission with the doctor with whom she once had an affair.  The doctor doesn't know whether the Captain is trying to win her back or kill her and leave her for dead.This follows after The Captain and the Doctor.  It's probably better to read that one first otherwise certain events might not make sense.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> The events of this story are clearly non-canon. The events that take place widely diverge from those that occurred in The Last Jedi. Just so you know...

“Are you the doctor?”  Asked the woman at the gate.

“Yes.”  Nash replied.  “I’m here to see General Organa.”

“She’s expecting you.”  The gate opened wide and Nash stepped in followed by her nurse, Len. They were led by the woman along the aging buildings near the temples.  Everything was old except for the support ships lining the tarmac.  Nash had never been this close to an X-wing but it did not strike her in awe.  Not like the TIE fighters had two years ago.

They entered a building where hundreds of people in flight suits and resistance gear were running around, almost like they were just trying to look busy.  It didn’t look at all as structured as the First Order.  They were shown into a room and an older woman came to them, her hand extended out.

“Ah, Dr. Lyoka!  It’s nice to meet you.”  Nash did not take her hand.

“General.  I’m here under the understanding that you have information you wish to acquire.  While I don’t know how I can help you since my days in the First Order were over two years ago, I would be happy to part with some if you’re willing to put the medical supplies I need up front.”

“Yes, I heard you were straightforward.”  General Organa mentioned.  She did not seem put off in the slightest.  Nash just wanted to get the medical supplies her planet desperately needed and get off this godforsaken rock.  She was an entire star system from Kaja and after defending themselves successfully from the First Order, they were badly in need of supplies.  “Come with me.”  Nash followed the General to their medbay and was shown the instruments the resistance was willing to part with for exchange of her knowledge regarding the First Order.  She looked over the inventory and nodded her head.  There was roughly five thousand credits worth of medical supplies they could take back to her planet.

“What do you want to know?”

 

 

For four hours Nash told the General and her key staff how certain weapons were made, the hierarchy of the military, who they were and where they were all from, and anything else that they sought out.

“What about Vice Admiral Kolott?”

“What about him?  He’s a mediocre man.  He got to his position through seniority rather than effort.”

“You seem to have a lot of those.”

“Yes, well, you have either the highly motivated…”

“Like yourself.”  One of the Commanders said.  Nash ignored it.

“Or you have the ones who think they should be there but have no clue what they’re doing.  A prime example is General Armitage Hux.  Horrible leader.”

“Is that why you left?”

“Among many other things.  It’s not safe there.  It looks like a well-oiled machine but the leadership is nothing but has-beens and narcissists.”

“I’m not sure how they get so many recruits.”  Someone else mentioned.

“Get them young.  Isn’t that how you do it here?”  Nash asked waving her arm at a few of the younger ones who couldn’t be more than eighteen.  There was silence before General Organa spoke up.

“What about Kylo Ren?  Was he a good leader?”  If there was silence before, now there was a vacuum that entered the room and sucked out all the air.  Nash swallowed hard before answering.

“I’m sorry, General.  Your son is not well tempered.  That does not make for good leadership.”  Everyone’s eyes went wide, looking to General Organa for a reaction.  The General simply smiled her sly smile, knowing exactly what Nash meant.

“So, you actually know the Sith Lord.  We’ve never come across someone from the First Order who actually knew his connection to the Resistance.”  The Commander said.  “How did you come to hear it?”  Nash shook her head.

“That will cost an extra thousand credits.”  She said.

“What about Captain Phasma?”  A different Commander asked.  At the mention of her name, Nash’s heart thumped wildly in her chest.  It wasn’t a name she had heard of in a while.

“What about the Captain?”  She asked, intentionally avoiding pronouns.

“Do you know if she’s really dead?”  He replied.  Nash shook her head.

“I don’t know anything about that.”

 

Nash endured a few more questions before the General felt she had given enough to warrant the medical supplies she wanted.  As she was leaving she knew the General was going to ask her for the umpteenth time to join the Resistance as she would be a valuable asset but she declined again on behalf of her ailing planet that was losing the battle against the First Order.

“Well, if you ever change your mind you will always be welcome here.”  The General told her.

“Even as a former Commander who made the superweapon on __Starkiller__  base?  You are awfully forgiving.”

“We have many former officers and storm troopers of the First Order.  You would be home.”

“Thanks, but no thanks.  My home is Kaja.”

“Understood.  I know your planet isn’t making a lot of headway…”

“Not like Battla.”  Nash said.

“No, not like Battla, but we have a lot of support coming in these days and can offer more supplies in exchange for information or your services.”

“My services, huh?”  Nash said, glancing at Len.  What kind of services?”

“If you worked here on the battle lines perhaps?  Say six months?  We can possibly get reinforcements out on Kaja.”  Nash’s eyes went wide.  Support troops would be better than medical supplies.  But her planet needed doctors and leaders and she was both.

“I’m sorry, General.  If I have need of more I will come to your aid but for now I must go back.”

“Certainly.  Thank you for coming.”  The General smiled.  She shook Nash’s hand and asked the same woman from the gate to escort them back to their ship.  The supplies floated on a small transport behind them.

As they walked through the building they came upon a bunch of people crowded around a holotable jumping and shouting wildly at whatever was being shown.  By the hoots and hollers, it was something spectacular.  Nash looked over in the direction and just barely caught a glimpse of a person dressed in a gray-green chest plate and similar colored armored knee and elbow plates.  Underneath was a black body glove with dirty khaki cargo pants and gloves, white sashes covering the arms and legs, a white cloth that served as both neck protection and short cape, and a green desert helmet concealing the entire face.  The warrior held a gleaming silver staff, gracefully utilizing it for it’s deadly intent on a storm trooper.  The motion of the warrior stopped Nash dead in her tracks.

“Wow, he is good!”  Shouted one of the resistance fighters.  She came up to the holotable and stood watching the footage of the warrior on a rampage, downing an entire unit of storm troopers with no backup.  There was only one person in the galaxy that could do that with so much elegance.

“Who is that?”  Nash asked.  

“Some guy called the Captain.  Lives on Battla.  He’s the reason the First Order can’t claim the planet.”

“Yeah, the General has tried everything to get his attention but nothing works.  Doesn’t want money or troops or nothing.”

Nash had known that Battla was raging their own successful strikes against the First Order but she had never heard of the Captain.  A fire consumed her to know that Brienne was alive.  Nash went back to where her nurse wait with the supplies.

“Len.  Watch the supplies.  I’ll be right back.”  Nash told her as she began to walk away.

“Doctor!  Where are you going?”  Len asked.

“To talk to General Organa!”  She shouted over her shoulder.

 

 

Ah, Dr. Lyoka.”  General Organa said as Nash entered the room.  Apparently the General was already in some kind of briefing as she was surrounded by officers.

“General Organa, what do you know about Battla?  Specifically about the Captain?”  Nash asked directly.

“Straight to the point again.  Battla has turned the tide on resistance against the First Order.  Whatever they’re doing, it’s working but no matter what I’ve offered I cannot get them to join us in the fight.  They’re only concerned about their own planet.  Won’t even give us a return message.”

“What about the Captain?  Is sh-…Is he the leader of the planet?”

“No, apparently they’re ruled by a monarch.  A benevolent one at least.  The Captain appears to be the head of their military and the one training the soldiers and planning the attacks.  Why?  Is there something that you know?”  The General asked, her brows raised in clear suggestion.

“I believe I know this warrior.  I may be able to get you an audience.  But it will cost you.”

“I suspected as much.  You want troops?  Credits?”

“Troops and credits.”

“General, this is too much to ask for a simp-…”  One of the commanders began but the General raised her hand, silencing him.

“A top commander who served on __Starkiller__  base.  I should have known you would recognize Captain Phasma when you saw her.”  The General told Nash.  She couldn’t help her brows shooting up in surprise.

“I wasn’t lying earlier.  I thought she was dead.”  Nash added hastily.

“I figured as much.  Honestly, as a science director with no ties to the troopers, I really didn’t think you had ever met her.”

“If you can promise me troops and credits for Kaja, I will go to Battla and get her attention.”

“And what makes you think she’ll even talk to you?”  Someone else asked.

“I don’t actually.  She might not.  But it’s worth a try.  There is one caveat though…”

“And that is?”  The General asked.

“The last time I saw her she tried to kill me.  I don’t think she will now but you never know with the Captain.”

“Why was she trying to kill you?”

“I had information that she was the one that lowered the shields to __Starkiller__  base.  I had evidence she had pre-planned it.”

“Pre-planned it?  She only did it because she had a gun to her head.”

“Who told you that?”

“The guy who held the gun to her head.”

“Whatever you heard, disregard it.  The Captain did it to weaken the First Order.”

“Ha!  That’s pure nonsense.”

“I also had evidence she tried to sabotage the superweapon on __Starkiller__  base.  Cost us about three months of work.  Did you know about that?”  There was a clear silence as the officer grumbled something indecipherable.

“It’s brave of you to go to Battla on our behalf if the Captain is out to get you.”

“Anything for Kaja.”

“Let’s discuss the terms and then we’ll get you to Battla as soon as we can.”  The General said, taking Nash’s arm.

 

 

Battla was a rather large planet with diverse pockets of land.  It boasted a sizable population advanced in it’s weaponry and science.  It had somehow adversely defied attacks by the First Order after negotiations went sour and in the last year it was waging a competent war against the giant opponent.  They were doing better than any other planet at war with the First Order, sparking an influx of resistance among other planets.  It was a humiliation for the First Order who saw itself being weakened with every passing day Battla was undefeated.

The plan was for Nash and a group of three resistance fighters to infiltrate onto the planet and then make their way to where they believed the Captain’s headquarters to be.  Getting onto the planet was difficult.  There was a maze of surveillance and laser defense weapons to navigate.  One of the resistance spies had managed to get an access code that allowed them to land in a shipyard on the outskirts of the city the Captain’s headquarters were supposed to be.  As soon as they landed they were taken into custody for having an expired code.

“The four at least found themselves inside the city but detained in a large prison that looked more like an old university than a detention center.  They separated them for questioning.

“I’m here to see the Captain.  I have news for her.”  Nash told her interviewers.

“No one sees the Captain.”  They told her.  “Why did you come?  What do you want?”

“I’m here to see the Captain.”  Was all Nash would say.  “Tell her Dr. Nash Lyoka is here to see her.”

“We will not tell her anything until you tell us why you’re here.”

“I’m here to see the Captain.”

When it was clear there would be nothing to gain from her, Nash was sent back to the room she shared with the other resistance spies.  They converged and found that none of them were able to persuade the guards to allow them to talk to the Captain.

There was a guard down the hall conversing with a janitor.  Nash used her good looks and charm to procure from them a pen and paper.  She hastily wrote something down, not allowing the others to see before bribing the guard to hand it personally to the Captain.  He was gone twenty minutes before a different guard came to collect them.

“The Captain would like to see you.”  He said as he opened the door and pointed at Nash.

“I’m not leaving without my companions.”  Nash stated, not wanting to lose out on gaining troops and credits for her planet.  The guard shrugged and led them all out.  The resistance spies followed with stunned expressions.

They were escorted all the way to a large, decadent looking building that looked like it used to be a museum.  Inside there were soldiers and civilians walking around performing their duties like individual cogs in a giant machine.  It was nothing like the resistance.  Certainly more orderly, a clear leader in charge.  The guard walked them up a flight of stairs to the top floor and down a lavish hall past many other guards carrying top grade blasters.

The guard rapped on the large doors at the end of the hall.

“Come!”  Shouted a male voice from within.

“The Captain will see you now.”  The guard said to them before openeing the door and allowing them in.  The resistance spies were the first to enter.  Nash purposely walked in last, her heart beating so hard in her chest, her stomach like acid eating away at her insides.  She despised the monster that Captain Phasma turned out to be but despite their last circumstances, Nash could never find a way to stop loving Brienne, the memories of their time together somehow eclipsing the last ten minutes she saw her.  Inside the room was the woman she had been in love with, the person she had intentionally tried to avoid because she knew she would fall for her like a boulder from orbit, the person who had tried to take her life and had somehow miraculously survived death hundreds of times.  She had never been more nervous in her life.

As soon as she entered she saw her.  The Captain was dressed exactly like she was on the footage from the holotable, completely clothed, not an ounce of skin to indicate there was a human, or a monster, under there.  There were five other Battla members in the room stagnated in the corners but Nash never took her eyes off of the Captain.  The Captain stood in the middle of the room, standing tall with arms to her side.  In one hand she held the note.  She could tell that the Captain was watching her, her head only moved slightly when Nash entered the room, each one staring the other down.  Nash wondered if there was a smile under that mask.

“The Captain has graciously granted you an audience.”  One of the other Battla officers said.  “It is a rare thing and would be wise to make the best of.”

“We came to ask for the Captain’s help fighting against the First Order.” The resistance leader responded.

“Yes, your interrogators told us you were with the resistance.  We will allow you to leave back on your ship but you must not come back and ask for assistance for you will get none.”  The Battla officer replied.

While they spoke, Nash glared at the Captain with hatred in her eyes.  She told herself this was the Battla version of Captain Phasma.  Brienne was probably dead.  The Captain was stone cold still, her gaze fixed on Nash equally though there was no hate emanating from her as far as Nash could tell.

“You’re wasting our time.”  The Battla officer said impatiently.  “We have other things to attend to than hosting your little band of renegades.  We’re fighting a war here!”

“As are we!  We need your superior battle tactics.  We need your training.  We have credits and supplies in exchange.”

“You will never be able to resist the First Order.  We are a planet of ten billion.  You are maybe a handful of defiant teenagers.”

“We took down __Starkiller__  base.”

“And then got demolished by the impending raid.  There’s nothing we can help you with.  Your days are numbered.  Captain?”  They all waited for a reply from the tall Captain, but she continued to stand in silence, helmet shifted at Nash.  It was then that everyone realized the stare-down between them, tense and shifting the air in the room.  “Captain?”

“I’m sorry.”  The Captain finally spoke.  With the exception of Nash, every brow in the room shot up in immense surprise.  Nash responded by narrowing her eyes suspiciously.

“You will never be sorry enough.”  She replied, folding her arms, showing her irritation.  “However, I’ll be more forgiving if you will speak with General Organa.”

“I never thought you would turn to the resistance.”

“I’m not resistance.  Don’t ever imply that again.”  Nash could see the others in the room glancing from her to the Captain trepidly.  She doubted the Captain ever allowed anyone to speak to her in this fashion before.

“Then what are you getting out of this?”

“Troops and credits for Kaja.”

“Ah, yes, I thought that if you were still alive you were probably in Kaja.”

“I thought you were dead.  That was good enough for me.”  Nash said hurtfully.  The Captain sharply walked towards Nash with a slow step.  She felt a harsh beating in her chest seeing the Captain approach her like a wildcat stalking her prey, but she forced herself not to move, not to be intimidated.  The Captain came up to her, towering over her head so Nash had to look up into the red visor of the helmet, her neck stretched back to accommodate the difference.

“Leave me with the doctor.”  The Captain demanded.

“There’s no way we’re letting you-…”  The resistance leader began.  The Captain’s hand shot up, finger pointed to the door and the Battla officers quickly dragged the others out, leaving Nash and the Captain alone in the room.  They stared silently at each other again for a moment.

“So, why t-…”  Nash started before the Captain raised her finger to her lips, shushing her.  Nash looked at her perplexedly and was even more astonished when the Captain took the lapels of her jacket and began to slowly draw it off her arms.  Nash stood frozen, internally upset with herself for being too scared to move and strangely aroused by the intimacy.  The Captain’s helmet was so close to her face, she could hear the Captain breathing through the ventilator.  The Captain’s hands drew the jacket down her arms, her palms sliding down her now bare skin, their bodies near enough for the heat to meld.  Nash felt her breath catch in her throat as the Captain reached behind Nash to take the jacket from off her hands, now holding her softly around the waist to help Nash keep her balance.  Nash had no idea what was going to happen but the idea popped in her mind that she was trying to seduce her into make-up sex and Nash had incredibly conflicting feelings about that.  She wasn’t sure she could resist the temptation nor live with herself for not fighting it harder.  To both her relief and disappointment, a coldness settled along her as the Captain released her, slipping her hands away and holding the jacket in the air.  She then reached behind her and drew out an enormous knife, poking the corner of her jacket with the tip and slicing into the fabric.  Nash knew better than to protest, knowing the Captain was searching for something and not being surprised when the Captain reached in the hole with two fingers and drew out a tiny, black circular listening device.  The Captain dropped the bug into a sitting glass of water on the table and then handed Nash her jacket.

“They don’t trust you.”  The Captain said.

“The feeling is mutual.”

“And yet you put yourself at risk to come find me.”

“Like I said.  For Kaja.”

“Yes, Kaja.”  The Captain repeated, a note of skepticism in her voice.

“You think I came here because I wanted to see you?  As I recall, the last time I saw you, you were going to toss me out of an airlock.”

“After a painless and respectful death.  I said I was sorry.”

“And I said you weren’t sorry enough.”

“I came back for you.  After the __Supremacy__  was cut in half.  I had to take a TIE fighter just to get to you.”

“Of course.  You had to finish tying up loose ends.”

“No, I came back to take you away from the First Order.  Though I was not surprised to find you gone as well as the hyponeedler.”

“I don’t believe you.  Why the sudden change of heart?”

“I took the opportunity to kill Snoke and…”

“Snoke is dead?”  Nash asked incredulously.

“Yes, and Armitage Hux but somehow Kylo Ren found out it was me.  We fought but I got away and came back for you…”

“Because I wasn’t a loose end anymore?”  Nash answered petulantly.

“Yes, in a way.”  The Captain said tightly.

“That’s so reassuring.”  Nash replied, rolling her eyes.  “I thought Hux died at the battle of Laocha.”

“That’s what the First Order wants everyone to believe.”

“How did you get here on Battla?”

“I sought out the best bastion against the First Order.  When I came here it took over a year to get into their good graces and that was only after I showed them how far I was willing to go to defeat the First Order.”

“You killed a bunch of storm troopers.”

“I killed a lot of storm troopers, yes.  After that they were willing to let me restructure their shields, planetary defense missiles, tactile training and anything else that would not only fortify this planet against the First Order but also make attacks.  Once they saw I was the strongest asset in their military I was put in charge.”

“Of course you were.”  Nash said.  The oddness of the moment was not lost on Nash.  She was speaking with her ex-girlfriend, the only one who had ever come close to killing her, and they spoke with a familiarity as though they had not been apart for two years.

“What does General Organa want with me?”  The Captain questioned.

“I don’t know.  I didn’t ask.  But she knows you’re Captain Phasma.”

“You told her?”

“Of course not.  She already knew.  You’re a magnificent warrior going by the name of The Captain.  It’s not that difficult to figure out.”

“Did you tell her anything else about me?”

“Not a thing.  I said I might be able to get an audience with you and she jumped at the chance.  She knows nothing aside from that.”

“Hmm…”  The Captain surmised.  That one reaction from her drudged up a lot of Nash’s memories of Brienne.

“Okay, I remember that ‘hmm…’  What are you planning?”

“We have many soldiers but we’re in need of a good doctor.”  The Captain stated.  Nash gave her an incredulous stare.

“Are you kidding me?  Why would I come work on Battla?  I have Kaja to worry about.”

“Then I don’t think I can help you.”

“All you have to do is go meet with the General and I can get the troops Kaja needs.  You’re really going to lord this over my head?”

“I’m just doing what’s best for Battla.”

“You’re doing what’s best for you.  You always do.  You don’t care about Battla.  You just want to stick it to the First Order and Battla has the resources you need.”

“It’s a symbiotic relationship.”

“One the Battlians have no knowledge of, I bet.”

“I’m not going to see the General.”  The Captain replied in a hard tone.  Nash glared at her impatiently before turning on her heel.

“Fine.  Kaja will survive without your help.”  She announced.  Before she could reach the door a hand wrapped firmly around her bicep, stopping her from leaving the room.  She turned around, the Captain still holding her, and roughly freed her arm from her grasp.

“You never think strategically.”  The Captain responded.

“I do, but I spite it because of pride.”

“That’s where you’re weakest.”

“We can’t all be emotionless demons.  I’d rather be weak.”  Nash spat.  The Captain seemed to be pondering her.  Nash remembered these moments, watching her when she was the Lieutenant General, her mind playing out a million scenarios before making a decision.  The acumen of that mind inside the Captain was astounding to observe.

“I’ll meet with General Organa, but only on my terms.” The Captain declared.  Nash felt a relief flood her.  With the requirements met, Nash would receive a supply of troops on Kaja.

“Good.”  Was all Nash replied.

“You’ve become harsher.  Perhaps wisdom and experience have colored your nature.”

“It began with a monster.”  Nash answered through gritted teeth.  She opened the door to allow the others in.

 

 

The Captain explained her conditions to the resistance spies.  Both the resistance and the Battla officers could not sustain their surprise at hearing the Captain was allowing the meeting to commence.  They all looked to Nash for an answer but she simply folded her arms across her chest and remained stoic.

It was agreed that the Captain would meet with General Organa at a rendezvous point just outside the star system where the First Order was not patrolling.  The planet was called Tatooine.  They were to go there immediately where Nash would then travel with the General back to her ship at resistance headquarters.  As soon as the transmission was received and accepted by the General, Nash began to follow the resistance spies back to the ship, though a form close by entered her personal space, causing her to step out of line with them.

“Come with me on my ship, Nash.”  The Captain said, Nash the only one in earshot.  “I have things to discuss with you.”

“Is it a conditional agreement?”  Nash asked.  The Captain sighed heavily knowing what was coming next.

“No.”  She answered honestly.

“Then I’ll see you on Tatooine.”  She turned briefly before spinning back around to face her again.  “Oh, and it’s Dr. Lyoka, Captain.”  She was glad to hear another heavy sigh behind her as she walked away from the Captain.

 

 

The introductions between the Captain and General Organa were tense.  The Captain coldly shook hands with the General and the five officers they each brought stood tersely around with distrusting glares.

“I realize this is an unorthodox meeting but I appreciate your coming here all the same.”  The General said.

“Dr. Lyoka tells me you know who I am.”  The Captain stated.  There was a silence that bombarded the resistance before the General responded.

“Yes.  The footage from your days in the First Order was analyzed against the ones on Battla and it was determined you were Captain Phasma early on.”

“Why are we here?  Is this about your son?”  The Captain asked.  The General glared at the Captain seemingly now sensing the type of person she was dealing with.

“This is about taking down the First Order in ways that I think only you would know how.  Come, let’s go to the meeting room.”  She held a hand out graciously towards a larger room sitting off the side of the lobby they were all standing in.  The resistance officers began to walk in but stopped short when the Battla crew made no move.  Nash saw the Captain’s helmet turn to her then back to the General.

“Will Dr. Lyoka be joining us?”

“Dr. Lyoka is not part of our resistance.  This is confidential information.”

“Let me rephrase that.  I would like Dr. Lyoka to join us.”  The Captain demanded.  Nash felt a heat climb into her skin.  What was the Captain getting her into?  Nash had thought the General would protest, but she simply nodded and then flicked her head at Nash to enter the room.  Nash gave the Captain a brief glare, arms folded across her chest but momentarily made her way in, taking a seat near the back.

The meeting commenced at once.  There was no superficial talk.

“Do you know anything about Krighton?”  The General asked the Captain.  The Captain cocked her head that suggested she did but raised an arm insisting the General continue.  “It’s where the First Order has secretly moved it’s headquarters.  We now know that Snoke is dead though we don’t know when it occurred.”

“He died on the __Supremacy__.”  The Captain said.  The General frowned.

“That long ago?  Certainly we would have heard earlier.”

“He was cut in half with a kaiser blaster.  I saw it myself.”

“I see.  Did you have anything to do with it?”

“Perhaps.”  Was all she replied.

“I find it surprising how you treat us like enemies when we’re fighting for the same goal.”

“No, General, we are not fighting for the same goal, though we do have the same enemies.”  The Captain responded coldly.  “It is because of that, we are here.”

“Fine.  Let’s continue.”  The General said, her legendary patience apparently not so interminable.  “We have obtained a map detailing the capital grounds.  We need the planetary shields lowered before we can destroy the capital from orbit, therefore wiping out their entire command center.  Unfortunately, due to the __Starkiller__  base fiasco, only one person has the code.”

“Your son.”  The Captain said.

“Yes, Captain.  I need you to kill him.”  The General replied gravely.  That was the one time Nash had ever seen the usually stoic Captain so shocked that she flinched.

“Hmm…”  The Captain mused after a while.  The rest of the group muddled in awkward silence as the Captain let this information sink.  Even without a face to derive expressions from, it was clear the Captain was thinking hard about this novelty.

“I wonder if you have any idea the hold you still have over him?”  The Captain asked the General after a long while.  

“I’m afraid my son is lost.  The dark side has weakened him.”

“Aside from his temperament, _ _you__  are his greatest weakness, General.”  The Captain told her though it didn’t sound like she was trying to be unkind.  “Despite his actions he believes what he is doing is more noble than the intense love he has for his mother.”

“We have established you know my son.”  The General stated.  “You are the one person we know who might have the skill set to kill him.”

“It’s possible.  Without any Jedi’s, I can see why you’d turn to the person who most knows how to fight Kylo Ren, though he’ll never give up the code to the shields.”

“He doesn’t have to.  Upon his death it is transferred to a General Kep Gask.  I hear he’s an easy target.” At the name, it was Nash’s turn to jolt in surprise.  She was covert enough that no one caught it though she noticed the Captain turn her head slightly in her direction.  She wasn’t sure if she would remember the odious Colonel.

“I’ve run across him before.”  The Captain answered.  “He can be compromised.”  Anyone else but the Captain would have mentioned how she made him piss himself in front of a thousand people.

“Why did you not ask about him during my interview a few days ago?”  Nash bravely asked.  All eyes turned to her.  “Gask was under my command at __Starkiller__.”

“We’ve only just learned his name.  He was promoted just a month ago.”  The General replied.

“Hmm…”  The Captain uttered.  Nash looked to her for a response but none came.  The General went on.

“The plan is to infiltrate the base with a small squad, find and kill Kylo Ren, lower the shields then get off the planet before the blaster cannons destroy the area.  The First Order couldn’t possibly survive such an onslaught.  From there we will dismantle the other bases until either there’s none left or the First Order surrenders.  There’s just one problem.  The only way to land on the planet undetected is through a small hole in the shield.  Once inside, there’s no way to fly a transport without showing up on land scanners near the base.  You’d have to avoid them by landing about eighty-five miles away in either direction.  You’ll have to hike from there.”  The General paused, allowing the Captain to form any questions but she seemed to have none so the General went on.  “It would have to be a small crew going in because the only transport that can fit through the hole in the shield has a passenger size of fifteen.  We have already assembled a team of our greatest soldiers so we’re also putting out best assets on the line for this.  Once you’re down there, you will all have to maintain radio silence.  After seven days of no contact we will assume the mission has failed.  There will be no support or rescue coming.”

The room was silent.  Everyone looked to the Captain who could not be more unreadable until now.  There was nothing to indicate she was listening.  She could have been asleep for all they knew.  The General glanced uncomfortably at her commander.

“Captain?  I’m asking you, can you kill Kylo Ren?”  Again, there was nothing for a while until the Captain inhaled sharply, like coming up for air.

“I can.”  She finally replied.  “But it will not be easy and I cannot guarantee success.  His skill is formidable but his emotions make him weak.  The biggest problem we have is that he knows my techniques and undoubtedly he is stronger in the force by now.  What I’m alluding to is this has a very small chance of a favorable outcome.  I have not lived this long by taking such risks.”

“Are you saying you won’t do this?”  The Commander inquired impatiently.  “You won’t save your planet?  You won’t fight for justice?”  The Captain remained silent.  Nash knew she had never fought for those things.  From the day she was born, the only things the Captain had ever fought for was vengeance and her life.  When it was obvious the Captain was not going to respond, the commander shook his head angrily.

“We’re wasting our time.”  He sneered.  “We all knew Captain Phasma was just a myth.  She’s just a piece of propaganda the First Order hyped up.  She can’t do it.”  There was something about his smugness that made Nash want to stand up and slap the sense into him.  If what he said was true, how did he account for her ability to always rise to the top of the military chain?

The Captain just shrugged.

“I’m not willing to risk my life to save yours.”  She replied before standing up.  Her officers followed suit.

“Wait, Captain,”  The General stood up, holding her hand out absent-mindedly.  She shot the commander an irritable glance.  “What would persuade you to go on this mission?  What would it take?”  The Captain stared hard at the General before sitting back down, everyone else in the room did the same.

“I don’t trust you to have the best soldiers.  I know mine are trained well and loyal.  I want to hand pick seven soldiers to replace your weakest.”

“Fine, done.”

“But, General…”

“I said done, Commander.”

“And if the Resistance should overcome the First Order, I want you to stay the hell away from Battla, Parnassos, Tatooine, the Korovian system, the Andar system and Kaja.”  At the mention of her home planet, Nash jerked her head at the Captain in confusion.  That couldn’t have been a coincidence.  The General and her officers muttered among each other before arriving to a question.

“What do you mean stay away?  As in trade?”

“Just keep your government off of them.  Trades can be negotiated but in the last four hundred years galactic governments have done little than to exploit individual planets.”  There was more muttering among the General and her officers before they finally nodded their heads.  

“We’ll make more detailed declarations later but we are in agreement.”  She said.

“Good.  And one last thing.”

“What is it?”

“Dr. Nash Lyoka must accompany us on the mission.” The mention of her name caused all eyes to shift focus on Nash in bewilderment.  Nash must have looked equally as dumbfounded as they all turned back to the Captain for an answer.

“Why Dr. Lyoka?”

“We’re going to need a doctor.  This will not go smoothly.”  The Captain stated.  Nash’s mind was going a mile a minute.  Why would the Captain want her on the mission?  She would only slow them down and she’d be taking a seat from one of the soldiers who was clearly more needed on a mission of this caliber than she was.  Two thoughts came to her mind.  Either the Captain was trying to kill her in some kind of accident because Nash was the only person besides Kylo Ren who knew her true identity, or this was somehow one of Brienne’s fucked up ways of getting close to Nash.

“...but she’s neither a soldier nor part of this fight.  We can’t-…”

“I’ll go.”  Nash declared.  The whole room went silent, looking from Nash to the Captain and back to Nash again.  Under the helmet, Nash suspected the Captain was smiling.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The mission doesn't start out too well. Nash is still trying to understand the Captain.

Nash knew what the resistance commander thought.  Two former upper echelon officers from the First Order going on a do-or-die mission for the resistance was bound to be a spectacular failure.  It was certainly suspicious that one of them demanded the other go.  But he said nothing, his faith in General Organa keeping his questions at bay.

It was decided that the Captain would go back to Battla to inform the military, gather supplies and form her team.  She would rendezvous with them at an old rebel base in two days time.  Nash informed her own planet of her whereabouts and though they ordered her back she directly defied them so they had no choice but to thank her for supplying them with troops and credits and to wish her luck.

The resistance gave her appropriate clothes and gear for the mission and she left that day for the rebel base with six other resistance soldiers and an officer.  As the only combat medic, she was tasked with carrying medical inventory.  She raided the medbay, taking what she thought would become necessary for their mission.

The base was certainly old.  She spent the next two days getting to know the resistance members.  They were all men, all humans and all from different planets.  Christo, Kalen, Parn, Laren, Hoss and Basta.  Of the six soldiers, Basta was the only one she felt comfortable with.  The others were unrefined to the point she could not relate.  They joked about sex and drugs over the campfire, wrestling each other like little boys when they should be planning the mission.  The officer seemed to have no control over them.  They talked back to him like defiant teenagers.  Nash thought of them as spoiled brats.  Christo was the most aggresive but something about Kalen truly terrified her.

At night Nash slept near the officer or Basta.  She didn’t think the others would try anything and if they did she was certain she could hold her own but she didn’t want to put herself in that predicament so her knife slept with her.  She was actually relieved to not only see the Battla shuttle land on the second day but to see the Captain disembark carrying a large blaster, a holstered pistol and two giant serrated knives.

It was determined that the weather on Krighton would be most beneficial in two days.  They would leave then.  As soon as the Captain saw the atrocious conditions the resistance fighters came in, she whipped them together demanding they obey her now that she would be the superior officer during the mission.  There was disrespect on the line and the Captain challenged them.  With large sticks, the six resistance fighters attacked the Captain and in under two minutes they were all on the ground, writhing in pain.  The Captain turned to Nash.

“You’re needed.”  She said to her, before turning away.  Nash shook her head, attending to Basta first.

 

The seven soldiers the Captain brought were all muscled out men and women with the looks of true warriors.  They were loyal and obedient to their Captain.  The five men and two women did not speak until spoken to, ate their meals quickly, slept in twos and practiced sparring when there was no work to be done.  Where the resistance soldiers had given Nash doubts, the Battla soldiers had renewed her hope.  The Captain forced the resistance soldiers to conform to the Battla soldiers ways, demanding from them unquestioning obedience.  The resistance grudgingly agreed.  The two days were spent running drills and learning each others strengths.

 Nash had even joined in some of the drills, picking up a blaster or sparring with the others.  The Captain was a fair instructor but unkind.  She yelled at anyone and everyone…except for Nash.  Not a word was said to her.  Either the others didn’t notice or they didn’t care as none of them seemed to hold it against her.  

In all that time, the Captain did not approach Nash until the night before they were to leave. Nash was sitting atop a guard post, overlooking the forest they were hidden in.  She was aware of someone trying to sound as though they were silently loud in their approach, so as not to alarm her.  She felt rather than saw the Captain sit down next to her along the railing.  The Captain did not speak.

“What are you doing?”  Nash asked her.

“It depends what you mean.”  The Captain replied.

“You, me, here, Kylo Ren…Do you really plan on killing him?”

“I haven’t decided yet.”

“Well, he’ll kill you on sight so it just boils down to whether we’re actually going on this mission or not.”  She didn’t expect an answer so it came as no surprise to her when there was none.  She sighed longingly, not being able to stop herself from asking her next question.

“Am I here so you can kill me?”  The Captain whipped her head in Nash’s direction.

“No.”  The Captain said sounding incredulous.  “Why would I do that?”

“You remember you’ve tried before.”

“That was different.  I came back for you when I realized there was no sense in it.”

“Which was exactly what I was trying to tell you at the time.  But you have a tendency to cut off anything that might make you seem weak.  I’m afraid you might see me as a weakness.”

“My weakness?  Perhaps.  I don’t intend to kill you.”

“Though you suspect I might not make it through the next few days.”

“I don’t think any of us will.  You can still walk out.  There’s still time.”  The Captain said. Nash could now see her thought process.  It wasn’t that difficult to make out.  The Captain had said she would not go on the mission without Nash and if Nash backed out then that would give the Captain no incentive but to back out as well.  But if Nash went then her secrets die with her as it was doubtful she would make it out alive.

“No, I’m going.”  She stated.  Nash got to her feet and brushed any debris off her pants.  She turned to leave but the Captain made a dramatic sigh and she just knew she was going to be called.

“Nash-…I mean… Doctor Lyoka.”

“What is it, Captain.”

“I went back for you.”  She said.

“So you keep saying.  You want a medal?  A pat on the back?  What do you think you deserve?”  Nash replied snidely.  When the Captain didn’t answer, she turned and walked away.

 

 

The transport lifted off at the break of dawn.  There was silence as the fifteen sat through the hyperjump, staring into space, heavy in thought.  Nash happened to glance around and caught Christo leering at her.  She scowled and looked away when he shot her a wink.

Hoss piloted the transport, jumping out of hyperspace along Krighton’s exterior shield, searching for the hole.  When the scanners found it he angled them into the atmosphere, the turbulence shaking the passengers like cans of paint.  There was a sudden explosion on the posterior side and the shuttle lurched forward, the controls beeping madly.  Hoss had knocked himself out, his head oozing blood where it hit the dash.  The Captain jumped to the pilot seat and pushed Hoss out, engaging the engines back into her control.  With all her might, the Captain flew the disabled ship through a thicket of trees, keeping the bottom abreast of the ground before making contact and sliding a hundred yards to a stand still.  As soon as it seemed clear, the Captain jumped out with her blaster fully charged, surveying the area they had landed in.

It was bad.  The transport was completely destroyed.  They would have to find another way off the planet.  They were over a hundred miles away from the base, much further than they had intended.  They only had seven days to make it to the base and kill Kylo Ren or the resistance would move their waiting fleet from their secret stand-by position.  Nash could tell the Captain’s mood was worse than usual.  She had probably kept the transport as a back-up plan in case she wanted to flee without a fight but now she was forced to either carry out the mission or find an equally more dangerous route to stealing a shuttle.  After a moment the Captain told everyone to grab their gear and follow her.

The Captain had the map and they walked all day through the woods till they came across a clearing that stretched for miles before abrupt mountains carved through it.  With no way of shielding themselves, the Captain told everyone to wait in the woods while she scouted ahead.  It was growing dark and she left with blaster in hand, disappearing into the distance, running the whole way.

Nash sat near the Battla soldiers as they made a small fire deep enough in the woods that they would not be seen.  The resistance fighters sat on the other side of the fire pulling out their dried beef jerky and handfuls of nuts.

“So, you guys ever seen her without her helmet?”  Christo asked casually.  He stuck a stick of dried beef into his mouth and chewed a chunk off, letting the muscles in his neck do most of the work.

“No one has.”  The highest commanding officer of the Battla group answered.  He was a sergeant.  Nash had learned his name was Willis an hour before take-off.  Sant, Paz, Binthi, Joff, Dappa, and Sugintho were the others.

“No one?  Not even your king or whatever?”

“His majesty the Kattan Jengis does not know what she looks like.”

“You’re saying no one knows?  That’s so fucked up!  Why follow someone you’ve never seen?”

“I see that symbol around your neck.  You are a Lomanite?”  Willis said.  Christo scowled and wrapped a palm around the chain hanging near his sternum and placed it down his shirt.

“So?  What of it?”

“Have you ever seen your god in person?  How can you follow someone you’ve never seen?”

“That’s different.  Your Captain is no god.”

“Perhaps, but at least I know she’s real.”

“Fuck you.”  Christo spat.  “Do you really know who she is?  She used to be the chrome trooper.  She worked for the First Order.  Bet you didn’t know that.”

“We did.  She told us as soon as she arrived on our planet.”

“And just like that you all fell on your knees and sucked her twat.”

“No.  It did not happen that way.”

“How did she become your military leader?”  Nash asked curiously.  The way Willis looked at her showed he was grateful for a more polite conversationalist.

“She came to us wearing her chrome suit of armor.  We had all seen Captain Phasma on posters and on holograms everywhere but never in person.  She claimed she wanted to fight for our planet because we were in the best position to do so.  We put her through many trials.  She would do anything but take off her helmet and anytime she ate or bathed she would angle it so that we could not see her face.  We brought her storm troopers to kill and she killed them all.  We brought her First Order officers and she did not bat an eye.  We pitted her against entire battalions and she would destroy them with her tactile strength and intellect.  Finally, the day came that a star destroyer was close enough to take out from the atmosphere.  She pulled the trigger unhesitatingly.  And then she gave us pointers on how to shift the ground laser cannons so that they were aligned to take out more than one ship.  The Kattan gave her the military that day and we have been winning the war ever since.”

“Neat story, bro.”  Christo burped.  “Who gets to fuck her?”  Everyone gave him a look of disgust.  “What?  I mean who does she let lick her snatch?  I didn’t mean rape, you guys.”

“C’mon, Christo.  Be nice for once.”  Basta said, shaking his head.

“Whatd’ya mean?  I am nice.  I have never raped anyone, though that new guy from Jakku is asking for it.  You see the ass on that guy?  I’d like to get me some of that.”

“Yeah, you keep saying that.  I don’t think he likes you.”  Hoss replied.

“Eh, I prefer the vag, anyway.  Less shit, if you know what I mean.”  Christo laughed.  “I like ‘em from Kaja the best.”  Nash glanced up at the mention of her planet and was mortified to see Christo wink at her again.  She glanced away only to catch Kalen’s eye and she shivered at the stare he gave her, full of longing and darkness.  She turned away, shifting closer to Paz, one of the Battla soldiers.

Christo did not let up.  Soon he had the other resistance soldiers laughing and talking about the Captain in her absence.

“I bet she has the ugliest mug you’ve ever seen.”

“She’s probably all scarred or tatted up.  Maybe both.”

“I bet her mama threw acid in her face as a baby.  She was probably a big baby, tore up her mama sliding out.”

“I bet she’s so ugly they had to tie a biscuit around her neck just so the dog would play with her.”

“Ain’t no one gonna fuck her without getting PTSD afterwards.”

“Hey, Nash!”  Laren shouted.  “Any chance the Kajians have a circus?  I found your new talking rancor.”

Nash was vaguely aware of a new presence behind the resistance soldiers, coming silently out of the darkness, the red line of the visor the first visible thing before an entire body came slinking out of the shadows.  Nash held her breath in fear, gripping her knees in a silent prayer that the Captain would not kill anyone just yet.

Christo felt a hand on his shoulder and he turned to it, receiving a hard, humiliating slap to the face.  The others stood up, their backs to the fire as the Captain approached them, Christo down on the ground with his palm covering his swelling cheek.  They all stood fearfully until the Captain made a quick jab at Laren, knocking him in the nose, breaking it with a crunch.  Every resistance soldier but Basta rushed her and she deflected every punch and took them down without breaking a sweat till they all lay on the ground in capitulation.  The Captain glared at them before stepping over their broken bodies to get to the food.

“It’s a testament to the Resistance how poorly their soldiers act.  We keep watch in pairs.  I’ll start the first shift.  Joff, you’re with me.  The rest of you go to bed.”  Nash looked at Laren and tossed him a pain reliever.  The rest were going to have to live with the pain and the embarrassment.  She grabbed Basta’s elbow before he went to find a patch of ground to sleep on.

“Hey, wake me up when it’s your turn to keep watch.  I don’t want to end up with any of the others.”

“Sure, Doc.”  He smiled.  He was a young man, maybe early twenties, but he seemed to be a good boy, perhaps a little smitten with Nash.  She hoped she wasn’t leading him on.  She made sure he wasn’t getting the wrong idea by finding an area by the Battla soldiers to sleep.  Before she drifted off, she could see in the distance the Captain standing at the edge of the forest, reclined against a tree.  There was something in her hand, maybe a pouch of some kind that the Captain held briefly, fingering it with a longing before putting it into her pocket.  That tall figure jarred her memories, remembering a white gold halo, deep blue eyes, long lines of scars, blaster cannons of a TIE fighter, the feeling of being wrapped in a black captain’s cape, the hint of musky soap.

 

Basta woke her up seven hours later.  Apparently they were the last ones on watch.  She got up, drowsy and cold but uncomplaining as she grabbed her blaster pistol and stood near the edge of the woods.  It was perhaps three minutes later when she was stirred by another presence beside her.

“You don’t have to keep watch, you know.”  The Captain told her.  Her voice was low but carried with the lightness of the air.  Nash hated how her close proximity caused Nash’s body to suddenly warm up, a heat flowing through her veins at the sound of her voice.

“I’m pulling my weight since I’m not dead yet.”  Nash replied.  “And why shouldn’t I keep watch?  I’m tired of you treating me like a porcelain doll.”

“I don’t treat you like a doll.  Why would you think that?”

“You just told me I didn’t have to keep watch.  What is that about?”

“We need our doctor to be at her best, that’s all.”

“All I’ve had is a head laceration and a broken nose.  Which you caused!”

“Eh, he’ll be all right.  I do need you for something though.”

“Oh, are we taking a silent trip into the woods?”  Is it going to look like I ran off?”

“For the last time, Nash…er, Doctor…I’m not going to kill you.  I came back for you, how many times do I have to tell you that?”

“What do you need, Captain?”  Nash responded, tired of this conversation.

“Something is wrong with my arm.”

“Which one?  Your robotic one?”

“Yes.  I can’t seem to get the last two fingers to move.  I think it got jammed when we crashed on the planet.”

“Well, we better hope it’s a neural problem and not a hardware problem because I am all out of mechanical engineers.”  Nash happened to have her bag by her side.  She reached in and took out her subdermal scanner, running it over the arm the Captain held out.  Nash glanced around, making sure everyone was asleep except for Basta who patrolled on the opposite side of the woods.  

“Take off your glove and pull up your sleeve.”  She told the Captain.  While the Captain rolled up her sleeve, Nash unwrapped the white strips off her arm, revealing the white skin underneath.  Nash had forgotten how pale and soft the Captain’s skin was, a stark contrast to the hardness of the muscle striating beneath it.  Nash ran her thumb along her arm, searching for the neural connectors under the tissue.  She stifled her surprise when the Captain’s skin raised in goosebumps.  As soon as she could feel the connectors, she took her laser scalpel and sliced into the skin, blood running off the arm and dripping into the earth below.  She slid the skin off the robotic appendage like a glove and looked at the connections to her neural network through her scanner.

“Looks like you’ve got a few dislocations.”  Nash said.  She dug into her bag and grabbed a syringe, placing it sideways in her mouth so that the tips stuck out, and then braced the Captain’s arm against her stomach so that she could touch the actuators at several points.  Nash was vaguely aware of the Captain’s face very near hers, her breathing slow but harsh from the other side of the vocoder.  Using her fingertips, Nash guided the wires through the mesh of metal and then took the syringe from her mouth, stuffing the wire into a small port at the edge of the robot arm.  She did the same to another wire and then secured them both with a shot of glue.

“Try it now.”  She said.  The Captain clenched her hand, all the fingers working simultaneously.

“That worked.”

“Good.  I can’t replace the skin grafts out here so you’ll just have to hide it with a glove.”  Nash replied as she put her gear away.  The Captain pulled her sleeve down and wrapped the white strips around her skin and metal then slid her glove on over it.  Nash got back into her watch position, crouched against a tree behind a large rock, and held her blaster off her forearm like she had seen the Captain do.  She stood still, looking around before addressing the Captain who had not moved like she thought she would have by now.

“You’re in my line of sight.”  Nash informed her.

“You haven’t asked to see my face.”  The Captain replied.  Nash glanced up at her in confusion.

“Why would I do that?”

“It was something you used to do.”

“Sure, when I loved your face.  Now I don’t want to remember how wrong I was to love you.”  Nash muttered.  The Captain looked back at the camp, perhaps seeing if anyone was awake before crouching down next to Nash.

“I’m not entirely sure why you’re still mad at me.  I apologized and I meant it.”

“Are you kidding me?  You honestly don’t know why I would still be mad at you?”  Nash said, her voice raising before she caught herself and glanced over at the camp.  “Did you forget you tried to end my life because you didn’t trust me not to tell anyone your secrets?”  The Captain hesitated for a moment.

“I could give several excuses, but I won’t because I get the feeling that’s not what you want to hear.”

“Finally.  Some sense coming from you.”

“But tell me how I can make it up to you.  You know I’m not good at this.”

“At what?  Reading people?  You’re very good at reading people.  You are awful at understanding them.”

“I meant relationships.”

“Hold on.  Are you…?  No way you’re trying to get whatever it was we had back, right?  Because that would be pure insanity.”  She glanced at the Captain in disbelief.  The Captain stared back at her though it seemed more out of confusion.  She could see the Captain trying to figure out if Nash was still angry or simply playing hard to get.  Nash thought she had better be more elaborate.  “The reason being that you, the person that I loved, broke my trust by trying to kill me.  I don’t see how you can build that trust again.  For instance, I still think you’re trying to kill me.”

“Why did you come if you thought that?”  The Captain asked.  Nash had no answer.  She huffed at her and turned away, looking across the valley for anything that moved.

“Just leave me alone, Captain.”  Nash finally said when the Captain seemed intent to stay.  The Captain held position for a long time, making Nash believe she was going to defy her request, but then she slowly stood up and stared at Nash before going back to camp.  The Captain always failed that part.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nash talks too much. It's bound to get her in trouble. The soldiers continue to get themselves in worse situations.

After scouting out the area, the Captain had a good idea the layout of the land twenty miles ahead of them.  Everyone carried their blasters ready as they hustled through the thick grass, jogging at a pace that was slightly too fast for Nash.  It took all her effort to keep up, even though she carried the least amount of supplies.  She wasn’t the only one.  Hoss seemed to be equally as worn out and every minute saw him losing ground behind them.  The Captain kept the pace up but fell back to where Nash ran.  She wanted to protest when the Captain took the medpacks from her but the load was far lighter now and Nash could at least sustain her energy for longer.  She watched as the Captain ran back ahead, indefatigable and impressive.

After three hours they were the full twenty miles where the Captain could see but they were now at the chain of mountains that they had seen in the distance.  They were not tall mountains but climbing them would certainly slow them down.  The Captain sent one of the Battla women to scout ahead while the rest sat around in a circle going over the map.  They had to cross the mountains and into a swamp before they reached the cliffs that bordered the First Order base.  After an hour or two, the scout came back telling them bad news.

There was only way through the mountains.  She had found an old road but the First Order seemed to have taken it recently and set up a border patrol along the route.  Going around would take too long and going through might alert their presence to the main base.  The only good news was that there was a village of indigenous people who were currently being used for hard labor near the patrol.  They could dress up as the villagers and slip past.

The fifteen of them went up the mountain a few miles before finding the post fully guarded by storm troopers.  About forty in all.  The ones that were not on watch were forcing the villagers to move carts of rock out of a large cave nearby.  It was cold enough up on the mountain that the villagers at least wore a lot of cover.  The hardest part was finding clothes for all of them to use.  The Captain found an area where a few villagers were detained with only one trooper on guard.  She snuck up behind him and knocked him out with one strike of the butt of her blaster.  The villagers eyed her in surprise.  The Captain put a finger to where her mouth would be, indicating the villagers remain quiet, then she motioned to their cloaks to take them off.  Either out of fear or thankfulness, the villagers shrugged out of them, the Captain grabbing the first one and tossing it to Nash.  She quickly put it on.  

There were only six cloaks.  The Captain had three Battla soldiers and two resistance put on the remaining cloaks then told them to hide their weapons and cross the border, one of the Battla would come back with the cloaks to distribute again.  Nash followed the Battla soldier through the compound, surprised when no one looked up as they crossed through the gates.  On the other side, Nash took off her cloak and gave it to the Battla soldier, who went back into the gate.

It was only three minutes later when Nash heard firing inside the compound.  Christo, Laren and the other two Battla soldiers fell to the ground then army crawled up the side of the hill to look over.  Nash could see the storm troopers firing on the others who were caught behind a gate.  The Captain shot her heavy blaster up to the comm relay, blowing it before any messages could be sent.  The Battla soldiers beside her returned fire and Nash could see them creating an opening for the Captain as she took to the nearest ladder and shimmied up as nimble as a cat, shooting her pistol at anyone in her way.  She came across a pole which she snapped off the hinge and wielded it as a staff, striking every trooper nearby, taking a few seconds to stop and shoot others from across the gaps.  The villagers took this opportunity to grab the gun of any downed trooper and shooting at them relentlessly.  The Captain disappeared inside the command post only to reemerge back outside, knife in hand, blood coating her armor.

“Willis!  Shoot them!  Don’t let them escape!”  The Captain shouted, pointing to a vehicle.  Willis stood in the road, an approaching transport headed full speed towards him.  He shot at the transport, hitting it roughly twenty times before it exploded, everyone on board immersed in a ball of flame.  The Captain and her troops searched the area for more storm troopers before reconvening.

“I searched the databanks.  They didn’t have time to send off a message.”  The Captain told them.

“We lost Hoss and Paz.”  Willis told her.

“Toss their bodies where they can’t be found.  We have to make this look like the villagers did this otherwise our cover is blown.”  The Captain replied.  Nash felt a tug on her heart that their bodies would be desecrated so easily but the Captain was right.  Time was of the essence and they had a mission to carry out.

The villagers rejoiced and thanked the Captain by hugging her and kissing her hands.  Nash could see she was uncomfortable but followed them anyway when they begged her.  They went down the other side of the mountain and into a village made of wood and thick straw.

While Nash bandaged up some of the other soldiers, a broken arm the severest injury, the Captain explained they didn’t have time but that they were there to liberate them from the First Order.  She showed them on a map how to get there but the villagers only knew the road was safest.  When the Captain explained they couldn’t take the road, she pointed to the map and they told her no, that dangerous creatures lived in that area.  When it was clear the Captain was taking her team there anyway, they gave them food and wished them luck.

 

 

It was near night when they approached the swamp.  The Captain told them to set up camp while she scouted around to make sure no one was nearby.  She came back an hour later after the Battla made a fire to keep warm.  The Captain grabbed some jerky and dried fruits then walked towards the edge of camp and kept watch while sitting in the darkness.  Nash could just make out her lifting up her helmet to eat, a deep seeded longing to go look at her face nagged at her till she forced it to go away.  Apparently some of the others felt the same.

“Too good to eat with us?”  Christo said, looking back at the Captain.

“You know why she’s over there…”  Laren answered, the broken nose perhaps converting him into the camp that left the Captain alone.

“Yeah, well, it’s still pretty fucked up.  She ain’t said one word to me that’s nice.”

“Have you said anything nice to her?”  Dappa asked.  It was the first time Nash had heard Dappa speak to anyone else besides the Captain.

“Shut yer yap.”  Christo complained.  “I’m just sayin’ she could be nicer, that’s all.  More like our esteemed doctor, eh?”  He glanced over at Nash and she rolled her eyes away from him.

“I don’t know what you mean.  I’ve never said one nice word to you either.”  Nash replied.  The other resistance soldiers laughed and heckled Christo, the Battla soldiers still quietly eating but with smirks across their mouths.

A knife whizzed through the air, striking the log Parn sat on with a thunk between his legs.  Everyone looked up to the direction it came from.  The Captain stood with a finger to her mask.

“Shhh…”  She said.  She made another motion, like a knife slicing into her neck and then pointed at Christo.  He scowled but said nothing and turned away.

“Bitch.”  He muttered.  Kalen sat on Christo’s right.  Nash could feel his stare bore into her and there was something much more violating about it than anything Christo could say.  “Any of you guys like music?  We could sing a song.”

“Christo, why do you have to be like that?”  Basta asked though his voice was wavering, clearly uncomfortable around the brawnier, more aggressive Christo.

“What the fuck do you mean?  I like songs, that’s all.  Anyone know ‘White sands of Partoo?’”  Nash refused to look towards Christo.  He was referencing a song from her homeworld and she knew he did it to get her attention.

“No.”  Willis answered.  Nash could have kicked his naive, muscled glutes.

“I’m glad you said so.  It’s a love song from the exotic planet of Kaja.”

“Ah.”  Willis replied, glancing at Nash.  He shot her an apologetic look that magically swayed her irritation.

“Anyway, as it goes, a local Kajian boy meets and falls in love with another local Kajian, though the song is ambiguous, you don’t know if he loves another boy or a girl.  The boy promises to swim across the largest lake to impress his love interest but he ends up drowning and becoming a part of the beach where it is rumored the love interest lies in the sand everyday, waiting for him to submerge from the waters.  I have made love to many to that song.”

“Your hand doesn’t count.”  Kalen said.  The resistance soldiers laughed before immediately silencing when they all looked over to see the Captain spin her head and glare at them.

“Whatever, Kalen, you ain’t never been in love.”  Christo remarked.

“Never been anyone deserving of it.  But one day…”  Nash made the mistake of looking at him again and felt a wave of disgust wash through her when their eyes made contact.

“You boys and girls ever been in love?”  Christo asked the Battla.  “Or you too busy suckling her teats?”  He pointed to the Captain.  The Battla glared at him but said nothing.  “Looks like I’m the only one here that’s ever been in love, and I’ve been in love plenty of times.”

“I’ve been in love.”  Basta piped up.

“Shut up, no you haven’t.”  Christo shot him down.

“I’ve been in love.”  Sugintho said.

“Finally!  Someone who understands!  What’s the name of your love?”

“My wife, Kinta.”

“Your wife?  Fuck, that’s no fun.  What about you, Snaps?”  Christo asked Joff.  He had referred to him as Snaps since the beginning of the mission, referencing his habit of snapping his fingers in rhythm when he got bored.

“I’ve been in love a few times.  Currently not in love now.”

“Oh, why not?”

“Last man I was with, found him in bed with a neighbor’s wife.  I told him to fuck off.”

“Sounds like he already did.”  Christo laughed.  Nash knew it was coming and was not surprised to hear him call to her next.  “How about you, Doc?  You ever been in love?”  She wasn’t sure if it was because she was projecting but she thought the way he asked her seemed more calm, more slow, like he actually wanted to hear the answer.  Nash’s instinct told her to say no and move on but her gut hated Christo and Kalen and her heart still loved Brienne.  She had never had opportunity to talk about Brienne to anyone despite wanting to shout to everyone how far she had fallen in love.  And Nash believed she would never have opportunity again because this mission was a slow suicide.  She would die without ever having said a word, and that felt unbearable.

“Once.”  She said quietly.  She sensed all the ears prick up.

“Really?”  Christo asked, clearly stunned by her admission.  “Who was the lucky person?”  Nash looked over to the Captain but she was too far away to hear their conversation.  The Captain was bent over, something in her hand, perhaps something that she was reading.  Nash turned back to the soldiers.

“I don’t want to get into it.”

“Ah, c’mon, tell us something about him.”  Christo goaded.  Nash breathed in heavily, knowing what she was about to divulge would be a mistake.

“Someone I used to work with on __Starkiller__  base.”

“Oh?  Another officer?”

“Yes, another officer.  A lieutenant general.”  Nash stated.

“Fuck, a lieutenant general?  Nosebleed section of the hierarchy, eh?  Why him?”

“Why anyone?  It just happens.”

“Nah, you gotta give more than that.  Could he fight?”  Christo asked.  Nash just chuckled.  “What?  What’s that supposed to mean?”

“There has never been a more amazing warrior.”

“Better than the Captain?”

“No, but equal to the Captain.”

“No way, I’ve never seen anyone fight like the Captain.”

“So you admit she’s the best soldier you have known.”  Willis stated.  Christo gave him a dirty look but was too invested in his conversation with Nash to bite back.

“What else does your lieutenant general have that I don’t?”

“Just about everything.  Intelligence, strength, respect, leadership…”

“Shit, I have all those things.  I’m practically your lieutenant general.  Was he as handsome as me?”

“I’ve never seen anyone more attractive than the Lieutenant General.”

“Fuck that, was it another Kajian?”

“No, not even close.  Blondest hair ever.  I could drown in those deep blue eyes.  Tall and beautiful, that was the Lieutenant General.”

“What happened to him?  Why ain’t you together?”  Nash looked back at the Captain sadly.

“She died two years ago just after __Starkiller__  was destroyed.”

“She?!”  Christo exclaimed.  “Are you an exclusive?”  Nash rolled her eyes at him, the sympathy was not strong with him.

“I’m going to bed.”  Nash said, rising from her seat.  She pointed at Basta.  “Wake me when it’s time for our watch.”

“You can take watch with me.”  Christo replied as she walked away.  “Doc?”

 

 

Nash went to sleep next to the Battla soldiers.  She was awoken by a stirring on her hip that glided too close under her ribs.  She shot up, swatting the hand away.

“Time for watch.”  The person said.  Nash squinted, realizing that wasn’t Basta’s voice.

“Fuck off, Kalen.”  Nash said.  She kicked off her makeshift blanket and stood to move but Kalen leaned over her forcing her to either lay back down or push him aside.  She knew he was looking for any chance to have her touch him and she cringed at the thought.  Suddenly Kalen was snatched away, a gloved hand grabbed his collar and yanked him off the ground.  Nash was relieved to see the Captain standing over her.

“What’s going on?”  She hissed, glancing from Kalen to Nash and back again.

“Just waking up the doctor for watch.”  Kalen replied nonchalantly as he got up off the ground, brushing his legs down with the palms of his hands.

“I’m on watch with Basta.  Don’t wake me up again.”  Nash spat.  Kalen shrugged like she should have just mentioned it and walked away.  For a moment she and the Captain watched him leave before the Captain turned to her.

“Is everything all right?”  She asked in both a commanding and sincere tone.

“Just sleep nearby.”  Nash told her.  She didn’t wait for a reaction, instead moving down to the ground and taking up her blanket again.  The Captain stood for a moment longer before settling down beside her.  Feeling safe and infinitely warmer despite the Captain laying over a foot away, Nash fell promptly to sleep.

 

 

Her watch came last again.  As soon as Basta woke her she looked over to where the Captain should be and was surprised she was still reclined in the same area, though it was possible she hadn’t been asleep because she got up once Nash did.  The Captain sat and looked over the map and supplies while Nash kept watch and once light began to stream in, the others woke up and the Captain made them all start off towards the base.  They had made good time yesterday, covering almost forty miles but the swamp slowed them down with its giant pools of murky water, muddy shods sucking their boots into the ground.

They had barely covered ten miles when a tentacle shot out of the water and grabbed Joff’s ankle.  Christo let out a war cry and shot at the tentacle hitting both it and Joff.  The tentacle slithered away, Joff cried out in pain and Christo cocked his gun, smiling at Nash.

“Let’s see your Lieutenant General do that, Doc.”  He replied smugly.  Nash tensed and glanced towards the Captain who had been looking at Joff.   The Captain suddenly halted, her head jerked towards Christo and her gaze searched him, finally turning and settling on Nash.  She could sense the confusion beneath the mask.  Nash ran to Joff with her medical supplies, grateful for an excuse to avoid the Captain.

Nash patched up Joff as quickly as she could.  In true soldier fashion, he complained little.  They were off again in under ten minutes, now careful to sidestep the deeper pools of water.

 

 

They came upon a lake that was not on the map.  There was no way to tell how big it was but Nash couldn’t see either side of it in the horizon, except the patch of large swamp trees about three miles ahead.  It would take too long to scout and without knowing how far it was to go around they had only one option.  They would have to go across.

The Captain felled some trees with her kiber axe and the other soldiers fashioned some rope out of the bark.  Two rafts were made to carry them.

“Willis, Sant, Binthi, Laren, Kalen and Christo.  You take that raft.  The rest are with me.”  Nash was thankful to be on the Captain’s raft.  She suspected she put Christo and Kalen on the opposite one on purpose.  They all got on their rafts and pushed away from the beach, a rope tied the two rafts together.  With their makeshift oars they rowed to the next shore, lookouts watching the deep waters for signs of creatures.

When they had traveled at least half the distance of the lake, Nash was feeling eerily calm, like the waters they passed through.  There wasn’t a hint of movement in the dirty lake though there was little that could be seen beyond a few inches.  Finally, they approached the shore.  Binthi and Sugintho both jumped into the water, ready to haul the rafts up the beach.  They had no sooner stepped foot in it when tentacles shot out, wrapping around their ankles and dragging them below the surface towards the middle of the lake.  They both screamed, everyone taking up their blasters and shooting into the water.

“Don’t get in the water!”  The Captain yelled to them before anyone could jump in after them.  She lay on the raft and reached in, just managing to grab Binthi by his wrist.  Sugintho never came back up.

“Shoot it!”  Binthi cried out anytime his head bobbed above the water.  The Captain held tightly to his hand while the others shot into the water.  Nash could see her whole body tense as more tentacles came up and wrapped around Binthi, some slithering around the Captain’s arm, trying to drag her off the raft.  Nash flung herself onto the Captain, her entire torso flat on her back.  Nash reached for the rope, grabbing it and yanking it so that she had one end.  She wrapped the rope around the Captain’s waist, the other side already anchored to the raft.  She held onto the Captain, keeping her on the raft while the tentacles strained to pull her off.  Willis shot into the water, the blaster hitting the tentacles along Binthi’s arm.  The creatures screamed and let go, disappearing into the darkness below.  The Captain still had Binthi’s arm, but nothing else was there.  The Captain stood up and made half of them row to the shoreline, the other half pointing their blasters into the brown water.  They rowed so fast the rafts waded all the way up the beach before anchoring into the sand.  Everyone ran off, strafing back with blasters trained at the water.  When they were far enough they all stopped, bent over and breathing hard.

“The fuck was that?”  Christo asked.  No one answered him but Nash looked to the Captain.  She remembered reading the report the Captain made after lowering the shields on __Starkiller__  and she wondered if they were like the sea creatures she had killed on the moon where she executed Sol Rivas.

“We keep going.”  The Captain said after several minutes.  There were no complaints, though Nash could sense the fear as they entered back into the swamps.

 

 

Before it got too dark, the Captain found a high ground just above the water level of the swamp they could camp on.  It was a tight fit but everyone had dry enough land to sleep on.  The Captain ate with her back to them and this time she couldn’t get far enough away not to hear Christo blubbering on as usual.

“...ain’t never had so much sand in my ass before.”  He was complaining.

“That’s not what that laser tech tells me.”  Laren answered.

“What’d she say about me?”  Christo inquired.  “She talking shit?”

“She says you got some weird ass nodes on your neural fabricator you wanted her to use.  Something about Hutt play?”

“Shut yer mouth.”  Christo snapped.  “I ain’t into no Hutt shit.  That’s fucking disgusting.”

“That’s just what she said.”  Laren added, hands splayed out like he wasn’t judging when he clearly was.

“You believe this, Basta?”

“I don’t not believe it.”

“Shut up, String Bean.  You don’t even get laid, what do you know?”

Nash was finding it hard to believe that the Captain hadn’t said anything to Christo by now but she was either dismissive of his talk or not too worried about the noise since they were so far out from the road.  She seemed not to notice as she ate her food, helmet perched atop her head.  Nash could see her outline in the haze of the swamp.  It reminded her of when she reclined against her in bed while at __Starkiller__ , the Lieutenant General reading reports from her datapad because Nash asked her to.  Nash had always loved her voice without the drone of the vocoder disguising it.  Her accent was sharp and formal unlike Nash’s more exotic accent, a standard Kajian prolonging of the vowels.  Deep in thought, Nash almost didn’t hear Christo call to her.

“Tell us more about your Lieutenant General, Doc.  I wanna hear a happy story.”  He said.  She hated how quiet everyone became, all eyes on her suddenly.  Nash glanced at the Captain who seemed frozen in place now, nothing to indicate she had heard him but a slight perk of the shoulders.

“I’ve told you enough.”  Nash replied.

“Aw, c’mon, Doc…You were all talking about those blue eyes you could drown in last night.”  He chided, mockingly imitating her.  “I wanna hear more about this fucking perfect chick.”

“She wasn’t perfect.”  Nash answered condescendingly.

“Fine.  Whatever.  Just tell us a story.”

“No.”

“How did you meet her?  What’s your favorite memory?  How did she get you into bed?”  Christo asked.  The rest of the soldiers groaned irritably.

“We all know you have the hots for the doctor.”  Basta said.  “This is just a fucked up attempt to get her to talk about sex.”

“Fuck you.  I just want to know who a real Kajian woman will play Coruscant shipyard under the covers with.”

“I wanna know too.”  Kalen replied.  He stared sinisterly at Nash, a knife under his chin drawing against his four day old whiskers, making a strange and creepy rasping sound.  

“Tell us more about your woman.”  Christo egged on.  “Greatest warrior ever, you said.  Most attractive person you’ve ever seen.  I wanna hear more about her.  How’d she get you?  Did she send you flowers?  Did she fight off all those people who pined for you?  Did she carry you to her room kicking and screaming till you realized how sexy it is to be wanted so badly that she wouldn’t take no for an answer?”

Nash stared at Christo bitterly.

“I nursed her out of a coma.  She flew me around in her TIE fighter.  Took me almost a year to get her into bed.  You have your answers now.  How about you shut the fuck up!”  Everyone stared in astonishment at Nash’s outburst.  For the first time Christo had nothing to say.  Nash stood up and grabbed her gear, moving it to the far side of the hill, then she flung her stuff down and covered herself with the blanket, trying desperately hard to get some sleep.

“I didn’t mean anything by it.”  She heard Christo say dumbly.

“C’mon, man, have some sympathy.  Her lieutenant general is dead, remember?”  Basta answered.  Nash sighed uncomfortably knowing the Captain most likely heard them too.

 

 

 


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Captain earns more loyalty from the Resistance crew. One of the soldiers accosts Nash.

The next morning they were back on the move by daybreak.  No one spoke as they marched through the swamp, slowly walking mile after mile until the Captain pointed to some black cliffs, showing them their new destination.  Nash followed, her gaze continually glancing to the Captain who walked ahead of everyone else, blaster in hand and eternally focused.  Nash noticed the Captain’s armor was smudged in dirt, anything white on her now caked with brown mud or smeared with red blood.  It reminded her of the times the Captain would come back to _Starkiller_  base and sit on Nash’s bed in her black form-fitting body glove, polishing her chrome plates and telling Nash about her latest mission.  The Captain would tell her some tremendous stories that seemed unbelievable until Nash would see it on the Propaganda feed the next day and realize the Captain had actually underplayed her heroics.  Anyone else could tell her stories and Nash wouldn’t believe it, except from the Captain.  Now that the Captain was back in her life, memories were being rediscovered all the time.  Nash spent the majority of the long march reflecting on the love she lost, missing it far greater now than she did when the loss was fresh.

By mid afternoon they had reached the slope of the cliffs but they had to find a way up.  Though the cliffs looked equally as inhospitable as the swamps, everyone seemed to breath a sigh of relief they were not where the tentacle creatures could hide.  The Captain led them around a pass, stopping cold and shooting a fist up in the air silently.  Nash could see the back of the Captain’s head but couldn’t see around the rock to what she was looking at.  The Captain backtracked them and gathered them in a circle.

“There’s a sloping edge we can climb but we have to pass by a large cave.”  She whispered to the huddled group.

“Did you see anything come out of it?”  Christo asked.  The Captain looked at him, probably silently berating him for questioning her but shook her head.

“No.  But prior experience leads me to believe there’s something in there.”  She explained.  Nash remembered the excursion with Captain Phasma when the giant roaches attacked them from the cave system on the planet.

“It could be nothing.”  Christo dismissed.

“That’s not what the large tracks leading to it tell me.”  The Captain answered, her voice harsher and less diplomatic.

“Just do as the Captain says.”  Willis told Christo.  Christo looked like he was about to say something else but he caught Nash’s eye and she brought a finger to her lips.

“Trust the Captain.”  She said.  That seemed to be enough to prompt Christo into obedience.  Nash turned to the Captain, and felt a wave of heat radiate through her body when she noticed the helmet looking in her direction.  The helmet nodded and then turned around, leading everyone around the rocks.

 

 

The Captain understated the size of the cave.  Nash would fit it firmly in the enormous realm of caves.  It spanned some fifty feet high and about seventy feet across.  The soldiers stealthily ran across the beach, blasters at the ready, the damp sand making their progress slow.  It felt like it was taking forever to get past the cave which stood a good two hundred feet away but close enough for the yawning opening to wail out eerie sounds, like the dead calling to them.  Nash heard the hard pads of their boots hustling through the sands, the soft crunch of the crystals just a little too loud for comfort.  They were barely halfway when the abrupt sound of a blaster fire caused everyone to halt and turn to the source.  Laren stood with his smoking blaster, heat emanating from its tip, his eyes practically popping out of his head in horror.

Everyone turned to the cave as a monstrous cry radiated from it, a scream of rage low-pitched and screeching.  There was an enormous thumping sound followed by repeated shuddering of the ground until the appearance of a creature, hideous and huge came tumbling out of the cave.  The Captain shouted for them to run and they all immediately began sprinting down the beach towards the rocky slopes.  The Captain was the fastest person Nash knew and her long, muscular legs were still not enough to outrun the creature.  It ran with giant tree trunk legs, dipping it’s mouth to the ground and snapping at the nearest target.  Nash was a good runner herself but unlike the rest of the group she was unused to bearing forty pounds of equipment while making a mad dash.  Her energy was diminishing to a degree where she knew she would not make it to the cliffs, much less climb them.  The next thing she knew, the Captain was beside her, pulling off her equipment and tossing them on to the beach.  Nash could hear the harsh panting of the creature directly behind her, could feel the heat of it’s breath like a hot, muggy wind.  She felt a hand shove her down onto the sand where she fell then turned to see the Captain standing over her, blaster fire shooting directly into the monster’s nose and eyes.  The creature cried out ferociously, it’s giant head whipped back causing it to stumble backwards.

More blaster fire from behind Nash hit the creature as the Battla and resistance soldiers now bravely faced the creature, seeing they could wound it.  But the creature’s hide was thick and blaster fire was not doing enough damage.  It was like trying to kill something using only paper cuts.  The creature turned it’s scaly back on them, it’s tail winding in the air and whipping at them fast and forcefully.  The Captain dived onto Nash, protecting her with her body, just barely missing the arc of the tail.  Not everyone was so skilled.  Laren was swept up, the tail making him sail a hundred feet in the air before landing on the beach with a loud crack from his neck, his eyes open but now unseeing.  Christo responded to the death by yelling and firing his blaster, running at the creature in full speed.  The creature screamed at him, now aggressively heading into Christo, it’s mouth open and full of sharp teeth.  Christo broke-off his run, then turn and fled the other way, sprinting as fast as he could from the monster.  The Captain held Nash down, her body completely covering hers, keeping her still until Christo ran past, the creature close on his heels, then she jumped up and began firing her blaster into the underbelly of the creature, causing it to scream out again.  The Captain egged it on but subsequent blaster fire to its snout made it turn and seek out the new offender, which happened to be Basta, who stood much too close to the creature.  The monster grabbed him with it’s scaly claw, the blaster smacked out of his hand as he began to shout and fight to no avail.  The creature grabbed the dead Laren from off the ground and made a run for it back to its cave, two soldiers for eating in the shadows of its lair.

The creature disappeared inside though they could tell by the echoes that the cave did not extend very deep.  Basta’s cries were loud and clear, echoing off the rock and amplified by the wind.

The Captain and her Battla soldiers quickly retrieved their equipment that had been cast aside to the sand.  Without a glance back they began to march towards the rocky slopes.

“The fuck…?”  Christo mumbled under his breath.  “Hey!  Where the hell are you going?”  He shouted to them.  The Captain did not turn around, continuing towards the cliffs.  “Hey!  You forgot someone!  Hey, Captain!”

“Captain!  You coward!”  Kalen cried out.  “We gotta go get Basta!” It seemed uncharacteristic of Kalen to care about Basta but Nash thought he simply wanted to feel more superior to the Captain for once.

“Fuck you, Captain!”  Parn yelled.  “I thought you were supposed to be a badass!  You ain’t nothing but a coward!”  Nash stood on the sand looking back at the cave where Basta screamed out incessantly.  The fear and hopelessness in his voice was breaking her.

There was a sudden burst of blaster fire aimed at the Captain and Nash turned to see Kalen holding it loftily to his eye, a smug smile crossed his lips when the Captain’s attention was finally attained.  The Captain and her soldiers marched back apprehensively.

“Explain yourself.”  She said when she approached them.  Nash could see her arms were tense, her hand hovered over her pistol expectantly.

“ _ _You__ explain yourself!”  Christo spat.  “You’re just going to leave Basta?  He’ll die!”

“What do you think we should do?  Risk our entire unit, the mission, everyone else’s lives for our weakest soldier?”  The Captain answered.  She seemed hardly intimidated nor concerned.  Her voice barely held any emotional note.  Christo blinked at her.

“Yes!  What are you, a robot?  You’ve got the heart of a fucking R2 unit.”

“A rescue would not be in our best interest.  We need to leave immediately.”

“Are you fucking kidding me?  How are you not going to help him?  Don’t you hear him screaming?  He’s still alive, dammit!”  Christo shouted.  It was true they could still hear Basta yelling for help though his cries had become more hoarse, more hopeless.  The Captain was silent though she seemed to glance at Nash in thought.  The long silence caused Christo to cock his weapon and turn angrily towards the cave.

“Fine.  If you’re not going to go get him, I will.”  Nash saw him stomp away, though his stride became weaker as he realized no one else was following.  The Captain and her soldiers looked to Parn and Kalen.

“I ain’t going with you.”  Parn said to the Captain.  “I’ll take my chances with my boys.”  He clearly meant it though Nash could see the trepidation in his eyes.  He knew he was making a mistake but he was going to carry it through anyway.  Kalen merely stood by Parn, though he almost seemed bored.

“Please, Captain.”  Nash implored.  “We can’t leave him there.  He’ll die.”

The Captain sighed and looked towards the cave where Christo was slowly making his way, his courage beginning to falter the further his progress.  The wheels were spinning again.  Nash could see her wondering if she could complete the mission without them.  It was a surprise to her when the Captain walked to Nash, gently taking her arm and leading her away from the rest of the group a couple feet away.  They were standing side-by-side, the Captain so much taller that she had to bend her neck down to speak to her in a low voice.

“Is this important to you?”  She asked her.  Nash looked up at the Captain, trying to understand if the Captain was really giving her the decision or testing her on some level.  Nash could still hear Basta screaming though it had altered into fits of anguished crying from a man who knew he was going to die a brutal death in the mouth of a monster.  She nodded her head.

“Yes.”  She answered.  The Captain nodded once and went back to her crew.

“Sant, Willis, Kalen…you three flank left.  The rest of you will flank right.  I’ll shoot up the middle.  Doctor, stay on the beach.  Get as close to those cliffs as you can.  Go.”  The Captain took up her blaster and jogged towards the cave, followed by her soldiers.  Christo had reached the entrance and was already doubling back until he saw the others headed towards him and he put the smuggest and most manliest expression on his face on as he could.

“Let’s do this!”  Nash heard Christo exclaim followed by a shush by the Captain.

“Cover blown.  Thanks.”  Kalen answered.  Nash couldn’t hear the rest as they all disappeared inside the cave.  She hightailed it towards the cliffs, making it no more than a hundred feet when blaster fire erupted the thick air, screams from the monster emanating shrilly out of the cave.  There were war cries and screams of rage from the other men, shots ricocheting against the rocks, thunderous echoes as the monster fought back.  It occurred to Nash that she had just sentenced it to death, this creature that had more right to be there than they did.

Though they had only been gone a few minutes, waiting for them to come back was almost unbearable.  They might all die and she would be stuck, alone in an inhospitable place she had no way of getting out of.  The longer it took them to reappear, the more she questioned the decision she made.  Relief swayed her when she saw the first of them emerge from the cave and begin jogging towards her, but nothing as immense as when she saw the Captain come out, blood and guts saturating her armor as she carried a broken Basta who was still very much alive.  Nash ran to them with her medpacks, opening her scanner and running it over Basta after the Captain laid him down on the beach.

“Broken leg, broken rib, torn rotator cuff…”  She said analyzing the man who was barely more than a boy.  It looked like his leg had been gnawed on, the gashes in his skin resembled teeth marks.  Basta gritted his teeth and tried incredibly hard to be tough, though Nash could see the tears welling up in his scrunched eyes.

“I can handle it.”  He managed to groan out.

“I’m going to fix you, Basta.”  Nash assured him, pulling out what she called ‘the good stuff’.  It took her twenty minutes to patch him up, the regenerators working full time, her combat medical knowledge put to full use.  It was only when she was finished that she looked up and saw the Captain carrying another body from out of the cave, Willis behind her carrying a third.  It was Parn and Sant.  Nash expected the Captain to bring them to her but it wasn’t until after they had diverged their route towards the sea that Nash realized it was too late for them.  They dropped the bodies in the water ceremoniously then walked back to the rest of the group.

“We have to go.”  The Captain told them.  She held out her hand to Basta.  His bones had been temporarily bound with osteoglue, his skin regenerated so there were no visible gashes and he was pumped full of pain relievers but the pain would still be sharp even while sitting on the sand.  He took her hand and she hauled him up onto his feet, giving him a pat on his shoulder in good faith.  Basta took up his weapon and followed the others, keeping up as best as he could.  Nash walked last, her head drooped, her shoulders heavy as she climbed the cliffs.  The Captain came to take more of the load off of her but she pushed her away.  Nash was determined to not be a liability and demanded more from herself now more than anytime in her life.

 

 

From then on out, Basta was a model soldier.  He unquestioningly obeyed the Captain and imitated the Battla soldiers when they answered her call.  He fell in line, he stood at ease, he did not speak until spoken to.  He ate and slept with the Battla crew and they welcomed him into their core.  He asked the Battla soldiers to teach him how to fight and they gave him a knife, showing him the best points to kill a man.

“You know she was going to leave you, right?”  Christo snarled at him while they ate supper that night.

“But she didn’t.  She came for me.”  Basta replied, his head held high, his face a mask with no emotion.

“I’m the one that made her do it.  You should be thanking me.”  Christo responded bitterly.

“No offense, Christo, but you wouldn’t have been able to kill that monster.  It was the Captain who rescued me.”

“Fuck you, Basta.”

“No, thank you, sir.”

Nash watched their conversation but couldn’t keep her thoughts from returning to that cave.  She almost felt it was unfair of the Captain to make her decide what to do, but hadn’t she asked her to save him entirely unprompted?  Now two good soldiers were dead in place of this young boy who didn’t know combat like the rest of them.  Why he was even on this mission was ludicrous as certainly the resistance had better soldiers than him.  Either the Resistance had lied and given the mission their most expendable soldiers or they were all severely green and under-trained.  She didn’t regret saving Basta, the only resistance soldier she actually liked, but she had no idea if it had been worth it, because the Captain was right again.  Nash never thought strategically and this time it had cost two lives.

She wondered what if it had been her and not Basta who had been taken by the beast.  Would the Captain have left her too?  She would just be one less person to worry about, one more tied up loose end.  It especially would not have made sense for the Captain to save her because she had no real value to the mission.  Anyone can use a dermal regenerator, shoot some meds into their system.  She was pretty sure even the Captain had an advanced knowledge of combat medicine.  Unable to face the harsh truth, Nash went to the edge of camp and around a large rocky face, finding a flat space to sit down away where the others couldn’t see her.

They were up on the rocky terrain now, not too high but high enough were the cold penetrated through the blankets.  Nash sat shivering, a tear slipped down her cheek casting a cold trail along her skin.  She quickly wiped it away when she heard footsteps come up behind her.

“You made the right choice.”  A voice said behind her.  Nash thought she couldn’t feel any worse but being alone with Kalen hadn’t crossed her mind and his presence somehow made her both sad and revulsed.

“I don’t want to talk about it.”  She answered.  She refused to look at him even as he sat down next to her.  She inched away from him, her head turned in the opposite direction he sat.

“Those guys…they knew what they signed up for.”

“I just want to be alone.”  Nash told him with more irritation in her voice.  Kalen’s hesitation gave her the impression he heard it but he pressed on anyway.

“You’re the hottest woman I’ve ever seen, ya know.”

“Inappropriate.”  She said as she made to get up.  He grabbed her wrist forcing her to stay seated.  She looked at him angrily and saw the wide stare of his invasive brown eyes, a malicious smile perked the side of his mouth.

“I don’t mean to hurt you.”  He said softly but Nash could already see even he knew that to be a lie.  Chances were he was internally fighting not to display his true nature in front of the soldiers.  She had no idea what he had in mind, the others were only twenty feet away but the wind veiled their voices and the rock face concealed their view.  Nash had heard of more horrible stories of less desperate men.  She felt Kalen’s grip tighten around her wrist.  With her other hand she quickly reached around to her leg and grabbed the blaster pistol from the holster around her thigh.  Either Kalen hadn’t thought she had a gun or didn’t think she would use it but he seemed stunned that a blaster was now pointed in his face.

“I’ll say you fell off the cliff and no one will go investigate.  You understand?”  She said icily.  Kalen smirked even wider but let go of her, his arms now raised half-heartedly in the air in surrender.  With the pistol still raised at him, Nash wordlessly gathered her things and backed away from him towards camp.  As soon as she caught sight of them she re-holstered her weapon and dropped her things to the ground.  None of the others glanced in her direction, all of them invested in their conversation around the fire.  She glanced around for the Captain, seeing her just barely visible around the opposite side of the rocks, her body leaning up against it so that her back was to them.  She marched over to her not knowing why or what she was going to say.  The Captain was clearly caught by surprise, her helmet snapping towards Nash, body tensing as Nash saw her quickly stash the pouch she carried into her cargo pocket.

“Where were you?”  Nash accused as she stepped around the rock, making sure the others couldn’t see them.  The Captain seemed astonished into silence.  Nash realized the Captain had no idea what she was talking about and she sighed heavily, arms folded across her chest in both frustration and disappointment.

“I-…”  The Captain began but was abruptly stifled when Nash raised her hand.

“Just…don’t leave me alone…with them.”  She told her.  She could sense the Captain heavily pondering the events just prior to now, a dawning came over her as she slowly eased, her helmet turned to face the group.  Before she could answer, Nash calmed herself down and headed back to the fire.

Kalen was already seated there and Nash chose the furthest spot from him, which happened to be next to Basta.

“Let me see your leg.”  Nash told him.  He raised his pant leg and she applied more work around the swollen muscle, handing him more pain relievers for sleeping.

“Hey, Doc…”  Basta said in a soft tone.  “I didn’t get a chance to thank you.”

“Don’t worry about it, Basta.  I’m just glad you’re safe.”  She smiled at him.  He nodded and smiled back.  Nash looked up to see the Captain emerge from her place behind the rock.  She stepped behind the group and leaned her back against the wall that acted as their only means of cover from wind and eyes.  Her helmet was unmoving but Nash could tell the Captain was staring at Kalen, her arms crossed tensely along her torso, a knife gripped in her hand.  Kalen sat with his back to her, completely unaware of this looming threat, prey to the greatest predator Nash had ever known.  There was an immediate sense of calm that flowed through her knowing the Captain would protect her.

Later, when she lay down to sleep, the Captain reclined nearby.  It was cold and Nash lay shivering for a while until she felt someone come up behind her and lay another blanket over her.

“Hey, Doc…”  Basta whispered.  “Is it okay if I lay here.  I’m fucking freezing.  Back-to-back, ya know?”

“Sure, Basta.  I could use some heat myself.”  She felt him lay his back up against hers, his warmth immediately welcoming.  She wished she had someone to block the wind from her front, the Captain was just far enough away that the cold slipped in between them.  With the helmet still on, she couldn’t tell if the Captain was already asleep.  She very methodically lifted her hand towards the Captain but the soldier made no indication that she saw her.  Reaching out with a slowness that seemed agonizing, she gently brushed her fingertips along the rim of the red visor, listlessly sliding down the helmet and off where her ear would be.  Her memories took a hold of her again as she recalled the last morning they were together, the Captain had snuck in the middle of the night and slept beside her, a welcome surprise in the morning when Nash woke up to gold beauty.  It occurred to her that she was staring into that faceless mask, looking for life beyond it and if the Captain was actually awake she would be able to witness her eyes solidly roaming over her, her fingers exploring as she lay.  She grimaced into that void of red and then scrunched into a fetal position, the Captain the last thing she saw before closing her eyes.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Someone is always on the edge of death, needing to be rescued. Nash finally gets a glimpse of Brienne.

Nash woke up when Basta did, the first thing she noticed was the Captain was gone.  Disappointed but not surprised, Nash got up, her body aching and cold.  She looked over Basta’s wounds again, pleased that the cold had actually helped the swelling and the osteoglue on his bones holding well.  He claimed to feel less pain.

The Captain was not far.  She looked over the map and checked her weapons.  Nash figured she had slept for six hours meaning the Captain had been up for two already since she only slept four hours a day.  It was something she had known about Brienne back on __Starkiller__.  It was how she could be two people on the base.

The Captain showed them their destination on the map.  She pointed to an area where they were and then a small circle northwest of them where someone had marked the map.  The circle indicated a village that the Captain had learned about from the villagers they had rescued a few days ago.  That was where they were headed.  They would be able to make it there by mid afternoon giving them the entire sixth day to infiltrate the First Order base and lower the shields for the resistance to fire upon.  Everyone nodded in understanding, took up their gear and followed the Captain.

 

 

“Basta, what happened in the cave?  How did you kill the monster?”  Nash asked.  Basta being recently wounded and Nash being the only civilian, they were the ones that were likely to fall behind as the group crossed the rocky terrain.

“It was the Captain.  She had the others fire at the monster from both sides while she took her kiber axe to the belly of the beast.  I’ve never seen anyone fight like that.  She must have swung at it ten or eleven times before it’s guts came gushing out of the slices she made.  That thing fought hard too!  Every time it took a crack at the Captain she would just evade it and then swing again until it was dead.  I’ve seen her fight on holofeeds and stuff but it ain’t nothing like seeing it up close in person.”

“I’ve actually seen her kill up close before.”

“You have?  During this mission?”

“No, a different mission.  When she was called Captain Phasma and I was a commander on __Starkiller__.  I went on an excursion that went bad.  The Captain saved my life.”  The memory of those giant roaches, General Hux putting them in the middle, the Captain whipping her staff, killing everything that came at her was as haunting as she remembered it.

“Well, we’re probably two of hundreds.”  Basta said.  “You could probably form a whole army of all the people she’s saved.”  Nash was thinking a bigger army could be built of the people she’s killed.  “I gotta admit, I had my doubts when we went on this mission, but no doubt in my mind she’s the greatest warrior in any galaxy, period.  No one can change my mind.”

“I know what you mean.”

 

 

Through rough winds and sharp cold, the Captain marched them further up the cliffs till they came to a sharp incline, impossible to climb, or so Nash thought when she saw it until the Captain told them all to stay at the bottom while she ascended with innate agility up the rocks.  They all watched her climb, some of them shaking their heads in disbelief as she scaled effortlessly like a reptile born among the rocks.  She disappeared over the edge and then reappeared a few minutes later, coming back down the same way she came up.  She jumped the last fifteen feet on nimble feet, standing up and making her way towards them.

“There’s a path carved into the mountain by the wind just on the other side of this cliff.”  She told them.  “It’s treacherous but I think we can manage.  We’ll rest and eat for ten minutes then be on our way.”  They all nodded, sitting down and digging in their packs for food.  Aside from the Captain and Nash there were only six soldiers left, Willis, Joff, Dappa, Christo, Kalen and Basta.  A sickness came over has as she wondered if this was enough, if all the other deaths were going to be worth this mission.  Two of the deaths she was directly responsible for.  She needed to be alone.

She strayed away from the group, but just far enough where she could still be seen.  It wasn’t long before she heard footsteps behind her.  She turned and was both surprised and relieved to find it was the Captain.  She felt guilty for how her heart longed for the sight of her, glad to be alone in her presence again.  The Captain silently stood by her, looking out beyond the cliffs to the blue ocean, occasionally lifting her helmet high enough to slip a piece of jerky in her mouth.  It was too quick for Nash to get a glimpse of her, even her chin was concealed by her hand when she raised it to her mouth, and Nash didn’t want to make the Captain uncomfortable by staring longingly for a chance to see a part of her face again.

“Yes?”  Nash asked her after a brief and curious silence.

“You told me not to leave you.”  The Captain stated.

“Ah.  So I did.”  Nash answered, looking flusteredly to the ground.  “Perhaps I should have clarified.”

“Would you like me to leave?”  The Captain asked.  Nash huffed and turned her attention to the ocean.  She hated when she asked that.

“No.”  Nash returned with a little snip in her voice.  The Captain’s presence stirred many contradictory emotions within Nash.  She felt protected by the Captain, yet there was always the lingering thought that she would be killed by her at any moment.  There was a part of her that was glad to be rid of the monster but she would always want the moments she had with Brienne back.  The Captain was a selfish hero, a gallant villain, a brutal intellect, at times harsh or tender, mostly terribly clever and sometimes unexpectedly naive.  She both loved and hated her, though both were waning.

“It was neither right nor wrong.”  The Captain suddenly said.

“What was?”

“Going back for Basta.”  The Captain replied.  Nash felt a wash of guilt tense her and she looked away, not wanting anyone to see the tears threatening to come.

“You told me I don’t think strategically.  You were right.”

“You have regrets?”

“I wouldn’t say regrets.  I have remorse.”

“Don’t.  We all made the choice.  Don’t make your remorse ours.”  It was not what one would call sympathetic but the Captain had a way of knowing the right thing to say to her.  Nash nodded, feeling her guilt slide away as she was led by the Captain’s experience.  Emotions doomed people, that was what Brienne had once told her.  It was how the Captain stayed strong, and though Nash had every intention of digging the guilt back up later, for now she kept it at bay in order to complete the mission.

“I won’t.”  Nash replied.

“Good.  You are much stronger than you know.”

Nash looked up into the red visor of the Captain’s helmet, feeling the eyes behind it boring into her.  While Nash had never seen the Captain outside of the Battla armor, she could still make out that same iron posture, the same muscled shoulders of Captain Phasma.  She had thought Brienne was dead to her but somehow there seemed to be veiled notes of her just beneath the exterior of the armor, reaching for her from the unseen depths of a heavily guarded heart.  Somewhere under there could be Lieutenant General Brienne Tarth, but she didn’t know.  

 

 

The Captain led them up to the top of the mountain then into a precarious precipice that dangled four hundred feet high in the air along the cliffs.  The path meandered around the mountain, sloping vaguely downward for miles until it narrowed significantly.  

The sea cliffs forced them to walk in close proximity.  They hugged the wall as they inched along the cliffs, Nash telling herself not to look down.  She was aware that over a hundred feet below was the water which was possibly swarming with those strange tentacled creatures.  After a while the cliff gave more clearance and they could start to walk more normally again but the edge was always right there, too close for comfort.

“There’s a side cliff over there that we can climb down.”  The Captain shouted over the wind as she pointed towards the stair step cliffs lowering down to the fields.  Nash felt relieved knowing they were almost there but It was still approximately half a mile away.  Her heart leapt in her throat when a hand clamped down on hers and she turned to see Kalen giving her his signature glare.

“Get your hands off me.”  Nash exclaimed as she snatched her hands away.

“Thought you were gonna fall.”  Kalen answered giving a malicious smile.

“Get your fucking hands off her!”  Christo shouted, even after Nash had distanced herself.

“She ain’t gonna fuck you, Christo, so don’t get your panties in a wad…”  Kalen patronized.  Christo slung a fist at Kalen but he missed.  Kalen grabbed Christo by the arm and pulled him so that he could slam his head into his face, but Christo ended up falling against Nash, sweeping her away from the rock and she felt her feet dangle on the edge.  Both men saw her and they reached out to grab her, still competing to be the one to snatch her from the ledge, but their clashing hands ended up accidentally pushing her instead.  Nash felt herself falling backwards towards the water below, the cold air noisily sweeping through her hair and ears, her body flailing at nothing, the fall itself taking forever…she thought she heard her name being called.

Her back hit the water with a painful smack and her descent had slowed tremendously but now she found herself submerged in a dark blue water that immediately took a hold of her arms and legs.  Her terror overtook her as she felt a slimy tentacle wind itself around her stomach.  Struggling against it she tried to take her blaster from her holster but the tentacles were too firm around her wrists.  Panicked and frightened, Nash struggled even harder against a far deadlier opponent.

A few yards away, something dived into the water and before Nash could make out what it was, red blood was clouding all around.  Nash heard the high pitched screams of the creature, felt it’s tentacle either slither away or suddenly fall dead around her.  All this time Nash had been falling further into the depths.  She felt a hand circle her wrist and pull her up at the same moment a tentacle wrapped around her leg.  Being pulled from both ends and now completely out of breath, Nash screamed.

 

 

“Nash!”  She was vaguely aware of the pounding in her chest, her sternum aching from rapid compressions.  “Nash! C’mon!”  Her name was called by the most beautiful, clear voice.  Like a strong bell.

“I’ve got you, Nash!  You can do this.”  There was a filthy bile clawing up her throat and Nash reflexively spat it out, her guts spilling from her.  She coughed hard, the toxic water ejected from her mouth like a fountain, her stomach painfully cramping itself to be rid of it.

“Nash!”  Her name was still being called but it was closer now that she was coming into focus.  Nash slowly opened her eyes, finding herself lying on the ground, completely soaked to the bone, her body painfully complaining of all the stress and lacerations.  A warm hand went gently to her cheek, just as wet as she was, and Nash looked up to see a woman silhouetted by the gray sky.  Her hair was short with white gold curls hanging just long enough to her deep blue eyes, which stared into her purple ones in concern.  She had a sharp, angular nose but there was something becoming of it as well as her thin pink lips that she remembered would tick up during a joke.  There was a scar Nash had never seen before running along her left cheek, like the end of a sharp knife had sliced her and healed in a perfect line.  Her skin was pale and flawless and Nash thought her the most beautiful woman she’d ever seen.

“Brienne.”  Nash smiled, though it sounded more like a question.  She saw the relief come immediately in those blue eyes mixed with an unveiled happiness that Nash had never seen before.

“Captain!”  Faint cries coming from up the rocky beach made Nash look in the direction of the others now climbing down the cliff face and running towards them.  Nash grabbed the Captain and pulled her down on top of her just as Willis stopped beside them, breathing hard and clearly bewildered by the scene in front of him.

“Helmet.”  Nash choked out, using one hand to point to the Captain’s helmet that had been flung to the side, presumably before giving Nash mouth-to-mouth.  With her other hand she held the Captain down on top of her, covering her face as best as she could.  She could feel the Captain’s harsh breath heating her cold skin, her face hidden deep in her neck, her body practically melded on top of hers.  The look on Willis and now a few others indicated they didn’t understand.

“Helmet!”  Nash coughed, snapping her fingers towards the green mask.  Willis quickly went over and recovered it, handing it to Nash who hadn’t moved except to keep the Captain from looking up.  With the helmet in hand, Nash slipped it over the Captain’s head, concealing her face again.  The Captain adjusted it and nodded to Nash before getting off of her.  Her glove had been lost in the water, loosened by the lack of skin and her exposed robotic arm caused more astonishment than finding her intimately embraced after the rescue.  Nash was able to witness the Captain stride up to Kalen and Christo, punching them both in the face before she slipped out of consciousness.


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Fluff chapter. Some light sexiness.

When Nash woke up again she was surprised to find herself in some kind of hut.  It seemed to be made of the same material as the huts seen in the other village and she could only assume she had been carried to their destination.  She was even more surprised to see the Captain sitting on a chair, mostly reclined, and though her helmet was on, by the way her neck was tilted down so her chin met her chest indicated she was asleep.  That and the heavy breathing emanating from the mask.  As soon as Nash moved, the Captain stirred from her slumber, the lightest sleeper Nash had ever known.

“I take it we’re past the cliffs.”  Nash said hoarsely.  Her whole body was crying out in pain.  She sat up and was surprised she was not wearing any clothes, simply laying naked under a thick blanket.

“Yes.  They call this place Ikean’o”  The Captain answered.

“How long have I been out?”

“About eight hours.”  The Captain said, moving from her chair and sitting on the bedside near Nash.

“Eight hours?  We don’t have eight hours to spare.”

‘Don’t worry about it.  We have till tomorrow.”

“Yeah, but let’s not cut this so close, Captain.”  Nash replied.  The Captain seemed to flinch, her gaze falling to the floor in what looked like disappointment.

“It’s too late to do anything now.  It’s too close to daylight to plan and we can’t infiltrate the base without cover.  We have to rest and wait till tomorrow.”

“Where are my clothes?”

“Being cleaned and dried.  I hope you don’t mind.”

“Who undressed me?”

“I did.”

“Anyone else?”

“No.”  The Captain shook her head.  She seemed to brace herself, waiting to be berated but Nash was actually glad it wasn’t someone else.

“What happened to my medpacks?”

“I have them.  I dropped them before diving into the water.  The others carried them down the cliff.”

“I’m going to need those.”

“Of course.  Also, the villagers see us as some kind of savior group.  They think we’ll be able to deliver them from the evils of the First Order so they’re giving us food, beds for the night and a place to get cleaned up.  I would suggest we take them up on their offer.”

“After the last five days?  Gladly.  I wonder if they would treat us so well if they knew we used to be First Order?”  Nash said.  The Captain didn’t say anything but Nash could practically feel the uptick of her lips before she left the hut.

 

 

Nash took full advantage of the amenities.  She ate as much of the fresh food as she could, bathed for the first time in six days and rested peacefully in the hut, massaging her weary bones and regenerating any lacerations.  The group reconverged so that the Captain could explain the plan.  They would be sneaking into the base just past midnight.  Kylo Ren would be drawn out by the Captain while the others kidnapped General Gask.  They would meet on the east side near the launch bays.

It got dark early, around six o’clock, which was a good time to take a quick nap.  Nash wanted to get some rest before what would undoubtedly be one of the more rigorous days of her life.  She knew she should feel nervous or terrified about the next day because the odds of coming out alive were awfully miniscule but her thoughts only went to the Captain.  Despite the protection and the empathy, this entire mission Nash had thought the Captain might have brought her here to pacify her in some way, to kill one of the only people who knew her secrets.  That theory seemed outlandish now that the Captain had not only dived in to rescue her but put her own life into serious risk for her.  That was not the act of someone wanting her dead.

She had also thought the Captain might have brought her on the mission because it forced them together, to share an experience that would bond even the most unfriendly of foes.  And that was how Nash treated the Captain, as her enemy, because why wouldn’t she?  The Captain had tried to kill her after all and it had broken her heart enough that after two years it hadn’t been pieced back together.  However, the Captain was thorough, enough that she had to have known that bringing Nash along could not only ultimately destroy any remaining vessel of civility between them but also force the Captain to exert herself in ways that would be detrimental to the mission and to her survival.  The Captain risked everyone’s lives including Nash’s and her own just so that she could be close to her in the only way she knew how.  If anyone else had pulled that stunt Nash would have raised hellfire and shot the person in the back but because there was a strong underlying notion that Brienne Tarth was still alive under that armor made Nash glow with amorous flattery.

There was one more thing that Nash couldn’t stop thinking about and that was the face of the Captain as she had seen it when she first opened her eyes.  It was so brief that she was almost regretful about pulling the Captain down into her neck so that she didn’t have to share her beauty with the others.  She had missed that face so much, all the times Brienne had come to her room to say good night to her, the times they had watched the TIE fighters stream in and out of the base, the clandestine meetings in Brienne’s barrack quarters.  She missed the chrome armor when Captain Phasma stood tall, Nash would stand behind her between her back and the captain’s cape, laughing as she hid beneath the heavy fabric.  Brienne would chastise her but Nash could always hear her smile.

Despite the betrayal, Nash never told a soul about Brienne.  At first it was purely out of professionalism, she didn’t want people talking around the base.  Afterwards it was because of shame, she didn’t want people to know how foolish she had been to love her.  And now it was because of a deep-seeded loyalty to Brienne who had tried to be the best partner she could to Nash in her own, unsophisticated ways.  There was a clear separation between Captain Phasma and Lieutenant General Brienne Tarth in her mind and she wanted Brienne back so badly her body ached horribly for her touch.  She hesitated, realizing she had to know if Brienne was still breathing, heart still pumping with red blooded longing for her.  She had to know right now.

 

 

Nash and the Captain were the only ones not having to share huts, everyone else was packed in with their squad mates.  She looked outside where the Captain slept but there was no way to know if there was a light on through the thick grass of the house.  Seeing nobody else around she bounded to the hut and knocked lightly on the door.  There was a quick rustling before a voice was heard.

“Come.”  The Captain called.  Nash opened the door and was not surprised to see the Captain had her helmet on though she was reclined on the bed like she had been reading.  She was still in her uniform though her boots and gloves were removed but at least she was visibly clean and dry.  Beside her was the pouch Nash had seen her draw out from time to time.  Upon closer inspection she realized it was a black, waterproof material, to keep the contents inside dry.

“Captain.”  Nash stated as she entered and shut the door.  Nash thought she saw the Captain swallow hard.

“Doctor.”  She returned.  “Anything I can do for you?”

“I didn’t thank you.  I wanted you to know that I appreciate your saving my life.”

“You’re welcome?”  The Captain responded.  She was clearly not used to such conversations but was trying hard to be genuine and possibly not offensive.  Nash gave her a hard look and could tell it set the Captain uneasy.  This was a side to her she had never really seen.  The Captain was never uneasy and Nash didn’t know what the possible implications were.

“Perhaps I just wanted you to know that I don’t think you’re trying to tie up loose ends anymore.”

“You’re not a loose end.  You-…”  “The Captain cut off abruptly.  She seemed to be having a surprising amount of difficulty speaking.  Nash gave her a searching stare, looking for Brienne and finding hope.

She glanced down at the pouch and then back up at the Captain curiously.  Nash sat on the edge of the bed near the Captain, the latter suddenly tense.

“Can I see?”  Nash asked as she reached for the pouch.  The Captain said nothing but did not protest when Nash reached further for it, grasping it in her fingers.  She opened it up and found merely one slip of paper in it, just a note.

 

__Hardened by sun and burned by sand_ _

__They rush across the marshes,_ _

__To avenge the fallen of their land,_ _

__To avow the realm that marches._ _

__

__And the masked finds glory within the war,_ _

__The Ancients throned in far_ _ __’_ _ __way places,_ _

__To bless the humble, the brave, the poor,_ _

__Ignorant of names and of faces._ _

__

__Carnage of battle, earth damp of blood,_ _

__The victory impossibly nigh,_ _

__The Captain leads youth through mountain and flood,_ _

__Announcing our time to die._ _

 

 

Nash recognized her own handwriting, surprised by the note she had written out almost two weeks ago.

“You kept this?”

“It’s all I have left now.”

“Yes, I’m afraid I never read the rest of the book before it was lost to the __Starkiller__  explosion.”  Nash replied sadly.  The Captain glanced at her before what sounded like her clearing her throat awkwardly.

“I meant of you.  I see now that I can never have you back.  Your handwriting, the note to me, even under disingenuous circumstances, it’s all I have left of you.”  Nash sat stunned by the amount of vulnerability the Captain was exposing to her.  She could tell it took a lot of effort for the Captain to declare it and there were no pretenses about it.  Nash could see the Captain was trying to say something but was having a hard time forming her words.  When she finally did speak it was slow and shaky.  

“I was wrong to abandon you.  I’m weak when I am around you and I was frightened.”  The Captain sat with her back against the wall, her helmet facing down to the floor on the right.  Even with the mask on she couldn’t look Nash in the eye.  

There she was!  There was Brienne!  Nash felt her heart exploding into joy at finding the love of her life again, all previous sins immediately forgiven.  Climbing up on to the bed, she inched her way towards the Captain on all fours, the strong frame sitting on the bed becoming more tense and tight with each approach.  The Captain had her legs outstretched on the bed.  Nash glided her body over the Captain’s being careful to avoid touching her directly just yet, and then with legs straddling her body, Nash lowered herself onto the Captain’s thighs, sitting on her with her hands bracing herself against the others shoulders.  She could see the Captain’s chest heaving with each deep breath, faster her sternum rose as Nash leaned into her.  Nash reached over and placed her hands to the sides of the Captain’s helmet, gradually lifting it till she could see the Captain’s face slowly being exposed by the light.  First her chin, then her mouth, that perfect nose and then those wonderful blue eyes.  Her gold hair fell out and Nash placed the helmet on the table to the side, fixed facing them as if watching.

The Captain sat still, her expressions almost foreign now that it had been so long since Nash had truly looked her in the eye.  But it was clear Brienne was silently fighting an internal battle, her emotions all but winning at surface level.  Nash remembered seeing this look the last time she saw her, the day they both escaped the _ _Supremacy__.  She could feel the vulnerability Brienne was feeling, sense the yearning in her eyes.  It filled her with a familiar passion she had lost the past two years.  Nash tenderly raised her hand to the Captain’s cheek, stroking the scar with her finger.  The Captain raised her own hand to Nash’s and gripped it lovingly, allowing her eyes to close at the touch.  Nash slowly leaned in and touched her lips to the Captain’s, feeling the softness that slid comfortably along her own, taking the Captain’s bottom lip into her mouth.  The Captain responded with an urgency of her own, her hands encircling Nash to bring her closer to her.  Brienne pressed Nash to her, their bodies heating up by the intimacy as their mouths explored one another’s again after such a long absence.  Nash lost herself with Brienne, shrugging out of their clothes and climbing under the blankets, soft skin caresses and light kisses melding into voracious need and breathtaking sensuality.  Every time Nash uttered Brienne’s name, she was rewarded with light moans, the latter needing to be reminded she was more than the Captain.  After an intensity she had needed, pleasure overcame her and Nash gripped Brienne to her hard, her fingers intertwining through her golden curls, her legs squeezing around her, locking her into a passionate embrace.  When they had slowed, their breaths were ragged and harsh, their bodies glowing in sweat.  Nash smiled and felt no regret.  She had found her Brienne again.

 

 

“Do the people on Parnassos have a word for love?”  Nash asked once they had settled.

“Of course.  Though it’s not really used the same way.  People will love the sun and the warm breeze and they will love the time when their son or daughter was born but they don’t generally use the word love to describe anything else.”

“Why not?”

“Well, it’s very much a wilderness where anyone can die at anytime.  You have to be careful with your emotions or you will find yourself lost because everyone dies early.  It’s hard to love someone when you know they could be gone tomorrow.  Emotions are kept at bay and people learned not to love one another.  Those who did were doomed to be broken.”

“How did people die so easily?”

“Wild animals, heavy storms, falling off cliffs, infected wounds, starvation, dehydration…just about anything.  We always had to keep moving because if we stopped, any number of those things would end our lives.”

“Hmm…”  Nash surmised.  Brienne glanced at her curiously.

“What is it?”

“I was just thinking that if you fell, I would come back for you.”  Nash felt a shudder run through Brienne.  Suddenly her arms were wrapped tightly around her, a kiss landed on her temple.

“For you, I have and will always.”


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kylo Ren finally makes an appearance! Nash and the Captain act like love-struck teenagers during inappropriate times.

Nash was able to get in a couple hours of sleep before being rustled by Brienne.  As she put her clothes back on she was surprised when a knock came at the door.  She glanced at Brienne with suspicion, Brienne giving her the same look before placing her helmet over her head.  The Captain went to the door and opened it a crack.

“What is it, Sergeant?”  The Captain asked Willis.

“Sir, two people are missing.  We can’t find either Kalen or Dr. Lyoka.”

“Hmm…All right.”  She replied, opening the door further just enough to get out without Nash being seen by Willis.  The Captain glanced inside to where Nash was still putting on her clothes before closing the door behind her.  Nash hurried to get dressed then went to the door and put her ear to it.  She didn’t hear anything so she quietly opened the door and peeked out.  Seeing no one she quickly opened it and stepped out.  She froze when she spotted the Captain speaking with the soldiers in hushed conversation near the fire.  Except for the Captain, they all turned to look at her, most of them with shocked expressions.  Already caught she held her head high as she went to join the group.  She noted that Christo seemed to be unable to avert his astonished gaze from her.

“As I’ve mentioned, the doctor has not deserted us.”  Nash heard the Captain say.

“I knew you were an exclusive.”  Christo whispered to her.

“I’m not.  I just think you’re unattractive.”  Nash whispered back, giving him a look of disgust.

“Oh, and the Captain is?”  Christo said in disbelief.  Nash shot him an odd look suggesting he was crazy for not seeing it.

“What about Kalen?”  Willis asked.

“Forget about him.  I think he’s decided this mission isn’t worth his time.”  The Captain stated.  There was an eerie silence among them, the admission clear as day.  A more naive Nash would have been upset by the murder of a soldier by the woman she loved but now there was one less rapist in the world, even if her girlfriend played judge and jury.  Either the other resistance soldiers were too frightened to question it or indifferent to her actions but none of them seemed distressed by the news.

The Captain relayed the details before striking out.  They were only about an hour walk to the base and she hustled them immediately.  By midnight they had reached the perimeter, storm troopers stood on outposts with search lights and blasters in hand.  Inside the gates they could see they were near the hangars.  Transports carrying more storm troopers and officers yelling orders passed by continually.  Though Nash hadn’t seen First Order operations in a while, there was something oddly more chaotic about it.  The Captain seemed to sense her confusion and explained.

“Seems the order here is out of alignment.  We’re looking at a haphazard reception formation.”  She whispered.

“Hmm…reception for who?”  Nash wondered.  No sooner than she had said it then the sound of a shuttle could be heard over the din of the troopers taking station.  The squads weren’t nearly as tight as they were when Captain Phasma was in charge.  The shuttle landed inside the hangar just visible enough to see a diplomat emerge with a crew of officers and storm troopers following.

“Looks like Coruscant.”  The Captain told the others.  “Probably here to make sure his funding is not being wasted.”

“What do we do now?”  Christo asked.

“We wait for shift change.  Should be in an hour.”  They slunk back into the cover near the perimeter.

 

 

“So, what does she look like?”  Christo asked Nash while the Captain went scouting along the perimeter.

“Shut up, Christo.”  Basta retorted.  “We’re supposed to be quiet.  You wanna get us killed?”

“I’m whispering, aren’t I?  Ain’t no one gonna hear us out here.”  Christo snapped before turning back to Nash.  “So, tell us.  Is she hideous under that mask?  At least we know she’s got blond hair.”

“I’ve told you.”  Nash replied.  “She’s the most attractive person I’ve ever seen.”

“What?  You told us that about your Lieutenant General.  Now you’re saying it about the Captain?”

“Yes, that’s what I’m saying.”

“The hell…?  They can’t both be the most attractive person you’ve ever seen.  You also said you weren’t an exclusive but I only hear about you with women.  The Captain and the Lieutenant General, that’s two chicks.”

“That’s only one.”  Nash replied cryptically.

“You saying I can’t count?”

“No, she’s saying you’re a retard.”  Basta answered.  “The Captain __is__  the Lieutenant General.”

Christo gave him a confused glare before his eyes suddenly went wide.

“The fuck…?  Are you fucking kidding me?  You were talking about the Captain the whole time?”  He asked incredulously.  Nash nodded her head before looking into her quadnocs, serving as lookout for when the Captain came back.  “Did you know your Lieutenant General was the Captain or did you just find out?”

“Of course, I knew.  How do you think the Resistance finally got her attention?”

“That was you?  Wait a minute, you said she died.”

“That’s true, I did.”

“So you lied to us.”

“Not really.  I don’t want to get into it.  You wouldn’t understand.”

“The fuck you mean I wouldn’t understand…?”

“Shut up, Christo.”  Basta told him.  “You don’t know nothin’ about the Captain and you don’t need to know.”

“You shut up, String Bean.”  Christo barked quietly.  “I know she’s blond and has drowning blue eyes or some shit.”

“You’re just jealous.”

“Damn, right I’m jealous.  Why’s everyone giving up their pussies for the Captain?  I got somethin’ to offer, you know.  Wait, is the Captain an exclusive?”

“No!”  Nash hoarsely yelled at him.  “Now shut up before you get us all killed!”  Christo clucked his tongue and glanced discouragingly at the perimeter.

“So was she really a Lieutenant General on __Starkiller__  base?”  He responded quietly while he ducked down and waited for the Captain to come back.

“None of your business.”  Nash replied, a sinking feeling in her gut.  It wouldn’t be difficult for Christo to take back that information to the Resistance.  All they would have to do is look up all the Lieutenant Generals serving on __Starkiller__  base.  There were only ten at the time, three of them were women, and only one tall, blonde, and blue eyed among them.

 

The Captain came back ten minutes before shift change, prepping them for their moves.  She told Willis how to find General Gask and how to sneak around the grounds without being seen.  Nash didn’t quite know what her role was going to be in all this since she was just a medic with a blaster but she was surprised when the Captain told everyone to kidnap Gask and then had Nash follow her to the thermal dynamic chamber.  They snuck inside more easily than Nash would have ever thought possible but the Captain told her she had cut the camera feeds onto a loop and then posed as a sergeant, changing the posts of the storm troopers so that they were scattered to the other side of the base.  Nash was surprised by her technical and espionage prowess and wondered if she had picked it up during her __Starkiller__  days.

“Okay, so how do we draw out Kylo Ren?”

“With this.”  The Captain answered, holding up a commlink.

“You’re just going to call him?  That’s it?”

“You don’t know Ben like I do.”  The Captain replied.  She paged Kylo Ren, speaking into it like asking for an old friend.  “Ben.  Meet me in the thermal dynamic chamber.”  Nash thought she was part of some elaborate scheme to prank her.  She could not believe the Captain just gave their position away.  The timbre voice of the Sith Lord replied immediately.

“Brienne.  I’d heard you left Battla.  I thought you’d come to your senses.”

“I have news for you.  It’s not something you’re going to want to hear.”

“I’m coming.”  Kylo Ren answered.  The Captain signed off and looked at Nash then shrugged.

“That worked.”  The Captain said.

“I’m not sure I understand what’s going on here.”  Nash retorted.  She was again perplexed when the Captain began carrying large containers and situating them into an area out of the way.  “Are you going to kill him or not?”

“I haven’t quite decided yet.”

“Still?  You’ve had seven days to figure this out.”

“It’s a lot more complicated than it seems.”

“Hold on, you’re not going to sell out the resistance, are you?”

“No.”

“Are you going to ask for your job back?”

“Go back as Captain Phasma?  I’m not sure how that would benefit me.”  The Captain answered.

“Of course, because it’s always got to be about you.”

“Please, Nash, I don’t want to get into this right now.”  She replied with a sigh.  “There.  Just crouch down behind these boxes.  He won’t suspect anyone else here.”

“You want me to hide?  Behind these containers?”

“Of course.  If he sees you he’ll use you against me.”

“Then why did you bring me here?  I could have stayed back in the village.”

“The safest place for you is right next to me.  It would take my death to kill you.”  The Captain responded.  She pointed to the area she wanted Nash to sit and seemed annoyed when Nash simply crossed her arms in front of her, tapping her foot sourly.  “Are you going to make me beg?  Please, Nash, I know this seems odd but I’d like for you to sit here and stay out of sight.  Do you really think I’m still trying to kill you?”  Nash gave her a skeptical glare before rolling her eyes and sitting behind the containers.  “Thank you.”  The Captain stated in impatient relief.

“Don’t die, all right?”

“That’s not the plan.”

“Will you kiss me?”  Nash teased.  The Captain slightly staggered in disbelief.

“This really isn’t the time for this.”  She said but came to Nash anyway and lifted her helmet enough to lean over and place a slow, soft kiss on her mouth.  “Now be quiet and whatever happens don’t try to be a hero.”

“Not even a part time one?”

“Nash, as soon as we get home I’m going to have to teach you the appropriate times not to get sassy.”  The Captain said, shaking her head at her.  Nash smiled and remained quiet while the Captain leaned up against the wall adjacent to the containers, close enough that Nash could see her.  She had her back to the wall, arms crossed in front, one leg taking the brunt of her weight while the other drifted across her other shin.  She might as well have been on a smoke break.  Nash suddenly saw her straighten up and a voice sail in from across the large, empty chamber.

“You’ve been causing a lot of trouble for me, Brienne.”  She heard the Sith Lord say.  He didn’t exactly sound angry.

“Ben, you’re looking well.”

“Ah, the same old humor.  I would say I missed you but I miss having a planet sized superweapon even more.  I should have destroyed you after you killed Snoke.”

“Please, I did you a favor.  Now you’re the Supreme Leader, and isn’t that what you wanted?”

“That’s what you wanted, but you got caught.  With you it’s either power or destruction, or both.”

“You know why I did what I did.  You know I would do it again.”

“What news did you bring me?”

“It’s not good.  I spoke with your mother.  She asked me to come and kill you.”  If Nash was as shocked by Brienne’s admission, Kylo Ren took it much worse.  She couldn’t see the Sith Lord but she heard the audible deep breaths through his ventilator.  It was the sound of a man who could not be more deeply hurt.

“You’re lying.”

“You know I’m not.  You have the ability to find out.”

“Why would she do this?”  Kylo Ren said.  He tried to remain calm but his voice ended in a shout and Nash could hear his temper begin to flare.

“The Resistance has been a part of her whole life, you know that.  You’ve only been part of half.  And now that you’ve killed your father, she doesn’t think she has a choice.  It’s you or the Resistance.”

“Why did she send you?”  He accused.

‘Your Uncle is dead.  There are no more Jedis.  She’s getting desperate.”

“Why are you telling me all this?  Are you here to kill me?”

“I don’t want to.”

“You can’t kill me, Brienne.  I’m the only one who understands you.  I let you flee off the __Supremacy__!  I could have killed you then but I didn’t because I didn’t want to!”  Kylo Ren’s voice wavered with his inability to claim control over his emotions.

“I know, I know.  That’s why I’m here.  To warn you.”  The Captain said calmly.

“Why would she do this?”  Kylo Ren repeated.  Nash could hear the hurt and the sadness shaking his tone.

“I know you’re hurting, Ben.  But I swear to you she still loves you.  This was not an easy decision for her to make.”  The Captain responded.  The Sith Lord sniffed and Nash was surprised to discover he was crying under that full mask.  “She loves you.  Your mother still loves you.  There’s still time to make amends.  She’ll always welcome you back.”  There was silence while the Sith Lord cried freely and though Nash couldn’t see them, she wondered if Brienne was hugging him to her, comforting him like a big sister.  There was a moment when Nash heard nothing, and then suddenly the air around her grew hot and acrid and she didn’t know what to make of it until she heard the Sith Lord again.

“I’ll never go back.”  The Sith Lord said quietly and firmly.  “My mother chose the Resistance, my Uncle chose death...I’ll never forgive them!”  There was a scream of rage and Nash heard a horrible sound, like something crashing into a wall.  She was able to look around the containers to glimpse the Sith Lord in full destructive mode, his tantrum leveled out.

“No, Ben!”  The Captain shouted but her voice was drowned out as the Sith Lord wielded the force, using it to send anything he could flying.  He brought the metal pipes from off the walls and threw them across the chamber.  Thermal radiators were pulled out of their sockets and sent flying against the concrete surfaces.  Nash suddenly heard the containers around her shake and then suddenly cast aside by an invisible force.  The first thing she saw was the Sith Lord, hands clenched in the air, looking directly at her through his black visor.  Nash stared at him in wide-eyed horror.  He froze at the sight of her.

“Commander Lyoka.”  He said once he recognized her.  “Wha-…?”  His confusion was as great as hers.  A sudden blast to his back caused him to spasm then turn to the source.  He pulled out his lightsaber, flipping it on and deflected the rest of the blasts Brienne shot at him.

“I should have known!  You were always a cheat!”  He screamed.

“I wasn’t cheating!”  Brienne yelled back.

“Then why is she here?”  He pointed at Nash before pulling a container into the air and throwing it at the Captain.  She easily dodged it, blasting at him again, and able to hit him once in the leg.  He hopped on the other foot until the pain subsided enough to place his weight on both legs again.

“I can’t explain other than she’s not involved!”  The Captain answered.

“I always knew you had a soft spot for the Commander!”  The Sith Lord accused.  “That’s why you dragged me to that damned banquet!”  He grabbed Brienne using the force, her body came flying upwards but she grabbed onto a railing with one hand and then shot at him with her pistol in the other.  He had no choice but to put her down and deflect the shots.

“You wanted the Jakku girl!  You tried to get her to join you!”

“You killed Brendol Hux!”  They shouted at each other while deflecting blaster shots and flying debris.  Some of them hit, most of them missed but they were both battered and bleeding by this time.

“You killed innocent Jedis because your Uncle knew you were swayed by the dark side!”

“You killed everyone on __Starkiller__  just because you were mad you grew up poor!”  They were now locked in combat, his lightsaber against her kiser axe.  She was bigger and stronger but he was smaller and faster.  It took all his strength to block her attacks.  It took all her endurance to keep up with his moves.

“You killed your father!”  The Captain screamed angrily, raising her axe and swinging it full force at him.  He parried it with his lightsaber though Nash could see his hands shaking as he gripped it hard, trying to keep control of it.

“So did you!”  The Sith Lord retorted.  He countered with a swing of his lightsaber and she jumped back in a dodge and roll.  Getting up she swung again and he had to stop and block once more.

“But you loved him!”  She yelled as she swung so hard it knocked a hand off his grip.  “You loved your father and you killed him!”  Nash could now see that Brienne was using his weakness against him.  His mother and his father dredged up a sea of conflict.  He both loved and hated them passionately.  Brienne swung her axe, striking at him while he defended as best as he could against the full strength of her blows.  He was getting lower, losing the fight against his emotions, which played so heavily in his skill.  There was one last blow before the Captain knocked his lightsaber out of his hand and he fell to the ground exhausted.  The Captain raised her axe before him, ready to strike at his head.

“I didn’t want to kill you, Ben.”  She said.  Her arms moved to strike when Kylo Ren raised his arm and his lightsaber swooped up in thin air towards Nash.  It flicked on and flung at her.  Nash closed her eyes and ducked, waiting for the inevitable pain at being seared in half but instead she heard nothing.  She opened her eyes to feel the heat of the lightsaber at her throat, stopped in mid-air.

“With my dying breath, I will kill her.”  The Sith Lord said eerily calm.  The Captain was fixed in place, glaring down at Kylo Ren, then tilted her head to look at Nash from the corner of her eye.  She slowly disengaged her weapon and threw it to the side.

“Tsk, tsk, Brienne.  I never thought you were capable of saving anyone but yourself.”  He said as he got up off the floor, his hand clenched out with the force to use the lightsaber at will.

“Kill me but let her go.  She’s a doctor, not a soldier.  I dragged her here and I’m the one that should pay for it, not her.”  The Captain replied.  The Sith Lord circled the Captain, perhaps pondering her thoughts.

“This is certainly unusual.  Are you really the Brienne I know?  Captain Phasma would have killed me and not shed a tear for any other fallen.”

“I’m not Captain Phasma anymore.”

“Take off your mask.  I want to see the change.”  He demanded.  She hesitated before reaching up and lifting the helmet off her face.  He circled her again, lifting a finger to the scar on her cheek.  “This is new.  It rather suits you.”

“Show yourself, Ben.  I want to see your eyes when you kill me.”  Brienne said.  There was no hesitation from him at all.  He pulled the mask away, his dark hair falling to his shoulders, black eyes roaming Brienne’s face earnestly.

“You were always my greatest opponent.  I respected you.”  He told her.  “But love has softened your fortitude, made you vulnerable.  You were invincible when you were a monster and now you’ve lost because you’re in love.  That’s a big mistake to make.”  The lightsaber came towards him, sailing into his hand.  He drew back the laser with the attempt to strike her across the neck, killing her instantly.  The Captain kept her eyes on Nash, her face resigned to her fate, a perk of her lips spoke of her devotion.

In all the time that they had been talking, Nash had been surreptitiously reaching into her medpack.  She drew out a hyponeedler, hoping the Sith Lord wasn’t too far away.  As soon as he raised his lightsaber, Nash shot the laser onto his face, sinking the anesthesia into his skin, pushing all of it into his system.  The Sith Lord staggered by the weight of the sedative as it took hold immediately.  He shot Nash a look of confusion before stumbling to the ground, dropping his lightsaber and fighting till his eyes closed and he lay snoring on the hard floor.

The Captain ran to Nash, a look of concern crossing her face.

“Are you all right?”

“I should be asking you that very question.”

“How much did you hit him with?”

“Same amount I hit you with.  All of it.”

“So, we have about eight hours, I take it.”

“Give or take.  I’ve never sedated a Sith Lord so I have no idea if they have an immunity to it, or something.”

“No, he’s just a human.  He’ll be out the whole time.”

“So, now what?”

“Hmmm…”  Brienne said as she looked down at him.  Nash could see her mind working and she had forgotten how much she missed seeing her expression while it occurred.

“Is there anyway he can be killed and then brought back to life?”

“I’m a doctor.  Of course, there is.”

 

 

Brienne pulled her helmet back on, kicked Kylo Ren’s lightsaber away, slung him over her shoulder and carried him to a shuttle outside of the launch bay.

“How is the base so inefficiently guarded?”  Nash wondered.

“Inefficient people in charge.”  The Captain shrugged.  As soon as they arrived at the launch bay, they then saw the rest of their squad, minus Christo, jogging with a blind-folded fat man in their mitts.

“Is that Kylo Ren?”  Willis asked.

“Yes.  And that’s definitely Gask.”  Nash answered, seeing the odious colonel had already peed himself again.  “What happened to Christo?”

“We were separated.”

“We’ll have to worry about him later, then.”  Nash replied.  

The Captain hustled them all into an empty shuttle.  As soon as everyone was in and the shuttle doors were locked, the Captain placed Kylo Ren on a table and Nash dragged off his cloak.  The other soldiers stood around looking at the sleeping Sith Lord in amazement.

“I can’t believe that’s what he looks like.”  Basta said.

“How did you manage to knock him out?”  Willis questioned.

“We’ll explain later.”  The Captain said.  “Stay out of the doctor’s way in the meantime.”

“Willis, take off the colonel’s blind-fold.  He needs to see this.”  Nash directed.

“The colonel, sir?”

“I meant Gask.  He’s not general material and I refuse to address him as such.”

Willis seemed perplexed but he didn’t even wait for a nod from the Captain before roughly removing the fold from across Gask’s eyes.  He blinked furiously before focusing on everyone, his gaze falling on Nash in incredulous horror.

“You!  Lyoka!”  He cried out.  There was no way for him to say another word as the Captain stepped in his line of sight.  She was so much taller than him that he had to arch his neck up, his eyes widened in terror as he directed his view to her red visor.  He was shaking hard and still smelled of urine.

“If you say another word, I will personally cut out your guts so that you can see the yellow in them before you die.”  She threatened very clearly and slowly.  Gask’s mouth dropped.

“Captain Phasma…”  He whispered in dumbfounded fear.  She put the tip of her pistol gently to his lips.

“Shh…Not another word.”  

Nash set into motion.  She palpitated the Sith Lord’s chest until she found a thin wire under the skin.  She took a laser scalpel and dug it out, minimal amounts of blood seeped out of the wound.  There was a green glow on the emitter.

“Keep an eye on this.  Don’t pull it out.”  She told Dappa.  She then quickly went to the medkits on the shuttle, rummaging around for something.  They all watched her in expectation, never having seen the doctor in her element and being fascinated by it.

“I hope this shuttle is better maintained than the transports on the Supremacy.”  She muttered.  She found what she was looking for and she told Dappa to hold the Sith Lord’s neck so that it was exposed.  Dappa did as she was told.  Nash injected the penticide into Kylo Ren’s bod and then immediately followed it up with lykocistic enzymes.  The green light in the emitter began to fade, turning into a yellow and then an orange before finally ending in a harsh red.  Gask suddenly put his hand to his head like he was stuck by a painful headache.

“Ow…”  He complained.

“Give us the code to the shield.”  The Captain demanded before he had time to recover from the input surging through his brain.

“Wha…?”  Gask said in confusion.  The Captain grabbed him by the arm, dragged him to the console and roughly pushed him next to it.

“The code!”  She shouted.

“WX4 dash 2125 dash PH87JP dash twelve!”  He bawled.  The Captain put in the code and the shields dropped from the sky.

“Nash!”  The Captain called.

“Already on it, Captain!”  Nash called back.  She pumped an anticynocap into Kylo Ren and then zapped a neural resignator on his temple.  It took only once for the Sith Lord to exhibit life.

The Captain ran to the shuttle cockpit, hailing the Resistance as she went.

“This is Shield One to mission control.  Shields are down, clearance in two minutes.”  She said.  A voice immediately responded.

“Good work, Shield One.  Timers set.  Cannons engaged.”  He responded.  They signed off and the Captain hastily flipped switches and turned knobs, preparing for launch.  Nash climbed into the co-seat, sitting down and strapping in.  The Captain lifted the shuttle into the air, stopping immediately when a man appeared outside in front, waving his arms and shouting wildly.  Nash looked to the Captain wondering what she was going to do about Christo.  The Captain was apparently wondering the same thing and looked to Nash for an answer.

“Do you want me to wait for him?”  The Captain asked.  Nash looked over the console in front of her.

“How do you fire that gun?”  She asked, pointing to the side blaster sitting in front of her.  The Captain tapped a stick with a red button on it in front of Nash.  She placed her thumb on the button, aimed and fired at Christo.  She was not adept at using the gun and she missed entirely but she got the point across and Christo jumped in shock.

“Hey!  What the fuck you think you’re doing?”  He yelled to them.  Nash shot again, grazing his leg and wounding him enough that he dropped to the ground angrily.  He hollered as the Captain pulled away, the shuttle rising higher until they were out of the stratosphere and cruising into space.

Not a minute later Resistance ships jumped out of hyperspace from their hidden location.  With cannons already warmed they shot onto the planet in the area of the base.  Waves of fire and blasted earth rained in a diameter of fifty miles, everything obliterated of the First Order command center.

“I hope they didn’t hit that village.”  Nash said.  The Captain turned to look at her, cocking her head inquisitively.

“I would think it was out of the blast radius.”  She answered.  “You’re not as concerned as I thought you’d be.”

“Perhaps wisdom and experience have colored my nature.”

“Perhaps.”  The Captain replied, a hint of regret tinging her voice.

 

 

When the shuttle landed at Resistance headquarters, there was a warm reception for Basta.  Though the others were still welcomed it was clear that despite having led a successful mission against the First Order and essentially liberating the galaxy from it’s extending claws, they were still heralded as outsiders.  Willis escorted Gask to the waiting hands of the Resistance and Nash and the Captain went directly to General Organa who stood on the tarmac with conflicted emotions crossing her face.

“Captain.  I’m sorry if I don’t greet you more warmly.  Even though I asked you, you’re still the one that killed my son.”

“You would be mistaken, General.”  The Captain responded.  “Your son is alive.”  The General froze in disbelief, her mouth dropping before speaking.

“My son is alive…?”

“And in the shuttle.”  Nash added.  “He’s asleep though and you probably shouldn’t wake him until he’s properly bound.”

“I don’t know how…?”

“We’ll explain later.”  The Captain replied.  “Just show us where we can get cleaned up.”

 

 

Nash and the Captain were directed to separate rooms that were adjacent to each other.  Nash immediately followed the Captain into her room.  They peeled off their clothes, showered and Nash bandaged Brienne’s wounds that occurred from her fight against the Sith Lord.  They were given clean clothes which the Captain had to wear under her armor and it clashed with the green-gray of the plates.

“I guess this is how I go back to Battla.”  The Captain responded, giving herself a once over.  She hadn’t placed the helmet on her head yet and Nash could see her eyes roaming over herself reluctantly.

“You’re going back to Battla?  The First Order has surely pulled out of the region by now.”

“Where else would I go?”

“I don’t know.  The Resistance could probably use your help destroying the rest of the First Order cells.”

“I’m not Resistance.  I’m not going to help them any further than necessary.”

“Are there any wars to fight on Battla?”

“No, they were at war with a planet within their solar system but it was wiped out ten years ago by the First Order.  That’s why they have a wealth of military weapons and soldiers.”

“What about Kaja?”  Nash asked.  The Captain turned and stared at her.

“I don’t think Kaja has any wars either.”

“No, would you be interested in going back with me?”

The Captain sighed and looked to the floor.

“With you?  Yes.  To Kaja?  No.”  She answered honestly.  Nash tensed, looking to the Captain in confusion.

“Why not?”

“A planet of beautiful people intimidates me.”

“Be serious, Brienne.  Why not?”

“That actually wasn’t a joke.  But in all seriousness, there’s nothing for me on Kaja.  There are no combat raids, no military bases…there aren’t even mountains.”

“Ah, I see.  So nothing at all.”  Nash replied heatedly.

“That’s not what I meant and you know it.”  The Captain came to her, placing her palms on Nash’s bare shoulders and running them lightly up and down her arms, forming goosebumps along her skin.  “I’m built for wars.  It’s all I’m good for.”

“That’s not true.”  Nash responded quietly, though she searched her mind for other things Brienne could do but none came.  

“Would you come with me to Battla?”  The Captain asked with genuine hope.  Nash knew she couldn’t though she gave herself a few seconds to consider it.

“I have to go back to Kaja.”  She finally conceded.  The Captain nodded her head, knowing it was the only answer she would give.  There was a sudden knock on the door that stirred them out of their comfort.  The Captain donned her helmet while Nash went to the door.

“Yes?”  She asked the Resistance officer.  He startled by her appearance, stammering out a sentence.

“I-I thought this was the Captain’s room.”

“It is.  What do you want?”

“Please tell the Captain Kylo Ren is awake and asking for her.”  He left and Nash turned to the Captain.

“You heard that.  What do you think he wants to tell you.”

“He’s either going to uphold our mutual respect or sell me out.”

“What does it matter if he tells everyone your name?”

“Does it matter to you?  I distinctly remember you not only abandoning one of our squad mates but shooting at him from the shuttle.”

“Point taken.  I just didn’t want him to be the one to expose your history.”  Nash looked up to the red visor and sensed a remorse forming from beneath the mask.  She wanted none of it.  Before the Captain had a chance to speak, she turned away.  “Better go find out what the Sith wants to say.”

 

 

The Captain went directly to Kylo Ren’s chamber where he was imprisoned.  Just before she went in, the General came out looking exhausted.  The Captain was in there for over an hour and Nash felt confused for what could they have to talk about?  Were they speaking through gritted teeth, psychologically waging war against the other?  Were they having a laid back conversation?  Were they reminiscing on old times?

While the Captain was with Kylo Ren, Nash sent a message to Kaja informing them she would be coming home soon.  The only transport going back to her star system was leaving in three hours.  She hoped to see Brienne before then.

Once the Captain came out she rejoined her Battla crew and they spoke in a closed meeting for half an hour.  As soon as they were done they met with General Organa in the war room of which Nash was able to attend.  Standing in the back, she learned that the Captain was offering the Resistance to join her in taking out the larger cells around the galaxy.  The Captain would go back to Battla and bring back an army.  For a price, they would return their POW’s from each sector.  The Captain and the Battla came to an agreement.  The Captain had an objective again.  Nash was not pleased.

By the time the meeting commenced, Nash had only a few minutes to get on the shuttle that would get her in the vicinity of her planet.  She was hauling her things aboard when she heard her name being called.  It was very clearly the Captain, but Nash felt her heart wrenching as it was Brienne she had longed to see.  She couldn’t face the Captain right now.  She pretended the engines of the transport made it difficult to hear her.

“Nash!”  The Captain called, placing her hand on Nash’s shoulder once she was near.  “Do you have to leave now?”  Nash turned to look at her, her guts wringing violently, wishing so badly to see Brienne.  There was never a moment she hated that mask more.

“Who knows when the next transport will be, Captain?”  She told her, trying desperately hard not to allow her heartache to slip to the surface.  “I need to go back.  I’ve been gone long enough.”  The Captain seemed at a loss for words.  She looked to the ground pityingly and then back at her, her body language indicating she was hurt and vulnerable and didn’t know how to take it.

“Please, Nash.  Please don’t go.  Not now.”  The Captain came close to her, her mask near her ear so that the transport’s ion engines didn’t conceal her voice.  “I came back for you.”  Knowing this was how Brienne expressed her love, Nash had a brief idea to jump into the Captain’s arms and wrap her legs around her torso to be carried off.  But what then?  The Captain was leaving tomorrow for war.  What would become of Nash?  What would she do while the Captain was gone?

“I can’t stay.”  Nash said to her.  “I’m sorry.”  Nash stepped on the transport and signaled to the pilot to go.  The Captain stayed glued in her area, staring at Nash until she was forced to back away when the shuttle lifted.  The doors closed and Nash could see out the window where the Captain stood fixed in her tall, iron stance, helmet directed at her until she disappeared from view.


	8. Chapter 8

Nash arrived in Kaja to a hero’s welcome.  Across the galaxy news of the First Order’s demise was sweeping.  Those who had been loyal to the First Order were now the loudest to vocalize their elation of it’s destruction.  The name Captain Phasma was once again heralded as a great warrior as news of her endeavors swayed everyone that she had been fighting for justice the entire time.  Only Nash and Kylo Ren really knew the truth.

Nash was promoted to science director of Kaja, a position she had held on __Starkiller__  base, though the difference was they weren’t building a superweapon this time.  The job had it’s challenges but she missed the atmosphere of the First Order.  She missed the chrome trooper.  She missed Lt. General Brienne Tarth.

Holofeeds of the Captain were on display across the galaxy as she led many rescue missions, destroying the remaining First Order factions and thwarting the Resistance when they tried to set up their government.

Brienne sent Nash messages every week describing where she was at the moment, which Nash was able to confirm because of the constant holofeeds.  The messages were always short and concise.  Every one one of them ended with: ‘Ask me and I will come back for you.’

After five months, Kaja was restored to it’s peaceful prosperity.  Nash was glad she could be a part of it but all too often she found herself up on the balcony of her apartment looking up at the stars.

 

 

“There’s someone here to see you.”  Nash’s assistant called.

“Who is it?”  Nash asked while she sat at her desk, typing into her computer.

“They won’t leave a name.”  Came the reply.  Nash paused, her heart beating wildly in her chest.

“Fine.  Send them in.”  She answered as she volumized her long brown hair and smoothed down her uniform.  Immediate disappointment swallowed her when a man in a cool blue, expensive suit appeared at her door.

“Wow!  You have done well for yourself!”  He exclaimed.

“Crall.”  She said, not even disguising her chagrin.  “Why the secrecy?”

“I knew you wouldn’t let me in if you knew it was me.”  He told her.  Crall Motta was a man she had known since she was twelve when they attended the same school.  He was the rich kid, his father owned the third largest company in Kaja of which Crall was currently on the board.

“You would be right.  What do you want?”

“I want your help.  My father is having trouble getting permission to build on the Eastern Lakeway and since we’re old friends I thought I’d come ask you to sway your science commission into allowing for it.”

Not only would I not do that but now I’m thinking I may have to find some reason why your Western Lakeway assets are harming the soil and should be shut down.”

“Ha!  You’ve always been a funny one.”

“Is that why you kept asking me to marry you?  You like a girl with a good sense of humor?”

“Are you still on me with that?  I was drunk.  It was a joke.”

“Once is a joke.  Four times is harassment.”

“Whatever.  I’ve asked lots of people to marry me.”

“I know.  I see you’re on your sixth spouse.  Your husband must be a glutton for punishment.”

“Are you stalking me?  How else would you know that?”

“You sent me an invitation to your wedding last year.  It literally said ‘sixth times a charm.’”

“Ah, right.  I forgot you were on the guest list.”

“I’ve been on every one of your guest lists.  I guess you’ve never noticed I haven’t been to one of them.”

“I didn’t come here to talk about my conquests.”  Crall said with a stupid grin that Nash wanted to smack off his face.  “I just want to get the permission the easy way.  I don’t want to have to result to loss of income which the tax payers will ultimately have to finance.”

“Is that some kind of veiled threat?  Who are you threatening here?”

“I’m not threatening you.  What?  That’s not how we do business.”

“Okay, that’s one notch in your favor.”

“How does twenty thousand credits sound?”

“Oh!  You’re bribing me.”

“Honestly, I was hoping our friendship would be enough but I can see you’re a busy person so I’m offering you as a show of good will.”

“Get out.”

“Fine.  Thirty.”

“Park, get this guy out of my office.”  Nash said into her comm.  

“Okay, okay!  Forty!  You drive a hard bargain.”  Crall replied.  Within moments a small man leading two guards came into her office.

“Make sure he gets all the way out of the building.”  Nash told them.  Crall sighed and gave her a disappointed look and a shake of his head.

“There are other ways, you know.  I was just trying to help out a friend.”

“We’re not friends and we never were.”

“I know that now.  You’re not as powerful as you think.  I’ll see you in court and believe me, this is going to hurt.”  He said as he was escorted out of her office.  Nash breathed out angrily and couldn’t focus on her work.  That afternoon another message came from Brienne.  Nash lay in bed that night reading it over and over again.  While she didn’t think she would die, Nash was always afraid the notes would stop coming either because of death or hopelessness.   _ _Ask me and I’ll come back for you.__   She touched the note to her lips and turned out the light.

Within a week, Crall’s company issued a petition to take the land for their business purposes.  Nash fought it in the courts but it only took a month for the courts to rule in Crall’s favor.  Nash knew it had taken time and a boatload of bribes to get what he wanted but it had happened just as he said.  A note was given to her without a name or commnumber and with only the words ‘told you this was going to hurt’ on it.  Nash couldn’t win and justice was dead that day.  After several days of slowly subsiding anger, Nash sent a message to the last place she knew Brienne to be.  There was only one sentence, one demand.

__Come back for me_ _

 

 

The very next day Nash was in the labs when her assistant called her on her comm.

“Dr. Lyoka.  Someone here to see you.”

“Who is it?”

“Captain Phasma.  She’s waiting in the laboratory lobby.”  Nash froze.  Could she have gotten her message that fast?  Had she dropped everything to come get her?

“I’ll be there shortly.”  Nash felt the butterflies in her stomach swarming madly in anticipation.  She hurried out of the labs towards the lobby.  

The lobby was a large spacious area on the ground floor full of windows.  It’s ceilings rose over twenty feet high with lots of lighting to accompany it.  When she got there, there was a surprising amount of people milling about, all of them gawking at the tall individual in the middle of the room who was patiently waiting and seemingly unaware of her audience.  Nash couldn’t mask her surprise.  The Captain had somehow obtained a chrome uniform though it was clearly not First Order.  The armor looked similar but more streamlined, her weapons all holstered in her belt and her cape was exactly the same black and red it had been on __Starkiller__.  The only real difference was the helmet which had less angles, and had a black visor for her eyes that crossed like a ‘T’ with no clear indication of a mouth.  It reminded her of the infamous bounty hunter named Boba Fett, but made of chrome.

“I got your message.”  The Captain said upon seeing her.  The vocoder disguised her voice enough but Nash knew it to be Brienne.

“You must have been on the other side of the planet.”  Nash said as she led her away from the staring eyes.  She took her to an elevator, having to wait for it to come.

“Not quite that close.  I was on Tatooine.”

“Not that close at all.  I would have thought you couldn’t transverse the galaxy that fast.”  The elevator doors opened and they stepped inside with three others who stared openly at the Captain.

“Twenty-fifth floor, please.”  Nash told one of them.

“I left as soon as I got your note.”

“What about your unit?”

“They’re back on base.  The First Order is practically non-existent.  I’m down to twenty soldiers.  The rest were sent home.  I still have Willis with me.”

“Oh?  How’s he doing?”

“Misses Battla.  Basta is with me too.”

“Basta?  You brought a Resistance soldier on mission?”

“He’s no longer fighting for the Resistance.”

“Good for him.  Did you make him into a decent soldier?”

“i can make anyone into a decent soldier, but yes, he is commendable.”  The Captain stated.  Nash could tell the other three in the elevator were eavesdropping as heavily as they could, their faces failing to mask the disbelief at how lucky they had been to get into the same elevator as Captain Phasma.  When they came to their floor, they stepped out of the elevator and into a wide hall, everyone they passed stared up at the Captain in immense awe.

“My office is down this way.”  She pointed as she led the Captain into a suite.  They passed by her assistant who did a double-take at the chrome armored Captain when she appeared.

“The Captain and I have a few things to discuss.  Please do not allow any interruptions.”  Nash told him.

“Yes, sir.”  He stammered out.  Nash opened the door and allowed the Captain to pass before following her into her office.  She closed the door and locked it behind her, immediately reaching for the Captain.  The Captain pulled her helmet off and locked lips with Nash, a fiery hunger consuming them both.  Nash wrapped her legs around Brienne as the Captain carried her to the edge of her desk, sitting her on it and leaning her whole body into the doctor’s welcoming one.

“I needed you.”  Nash told her in between smoldering kisses.

“I came as fast as I could.  I didn’t want you to change your mind.”  Brienne answered, her words heady against Nash’s mouth.

“Take me away from here.”

“I will.  I promise.”

 

Nash quit that day.  Her superiors were more than astonished to not only be given her resignation but that they had to fulfill her position tomorrow.  Nash brought Brienne back to her place and they fell back into rhythm like they had at __Starkiller__.  They planned out their future, which consisted of forming a mercenary group.  With Brienne’s skill as both soldier and leader and Nash’s medical and scientific background, they were certain they would be able to gain a reputation quite easily in the galaxy.  The idea had come to Brienne when she was consistently being approached by other worlds to solve their military problems.

“Anyway, with the war over and a surplus of soldiers it wouldn’t be hard to form the rest of our mercenary group.”  The Captain explained.  “We have our new ship, Basta and a few others are loyal and interested and I’ve already found a mechanic and a tech crew.  I’ve also just secured a doctor.”

“Oh?  I hope she’s worth it.”  Nash teased.

“She’s the best doctor I’ve ever known.  I’ve seen her in action.  It’s also how we met.”

“I’m not sure you’re the most objective person to make that claim.”

“Maybe not.  But she’s incredibly smart and driven.  She just happens to be the most attractive person I’ve ever seen.”  Brienne smiled.  Nash raised her brows in surprise.

“I’m not sure how that would make her a good doctor.”

“Let me tell you how it does.  She has long, thick brown hair, the color of the sands of Anthum Prime.  Her skin is a wonderful caramel, kissed by the sun.”  Brienne said as she laid her head in Nash’s lap, staring up at her.  “She has violet eyes like the lilacs of Coruscant.  Her accent is exotic.  I like it when she says my name.  She has a slight roll to her R’s.  Brienne.”  The Captain said mimicking Nash.  Nash laughed and covered her blushing face with her hands but Brienne took her hand away, placing them to her lips.  “And she has the most beautif-…”

“There’s more?”

“Shh…yes, there’s more.  The most beautiful breasts on any woman ever.”

“Oh, my god…”

“Full and perky.  They have a lot of bounce to them.”  Brienne smiled.  Nash leaned over, pressing her breasts into Brienne’s face.  She welcomed them with full kisses.

“I don’t know you.  The Brienne I know is not this playful.”

“I’m in a better mood these days.”

“I think destruction does that to you.  You like to destroy and you’ve just taken down the biggest entity in the galaxy.”

“No, it’s more than that.  I once told someone I got to me as fast as I could.  I didn’t realize there was further to go until recently.”

“That might teach you there could still yet be more.”

“Probably.  When I was growing up in Parnassos, there was only one person I would ever go back for but he died before I could really understand what it really meant to go back.  Now I have you and I finally understand what it means.  Everyone says it’s not something to relate to until you’ve been though it and they were absolutely right.  You’ve changed my whole perspective.  The world was so empty before you, which is probably why it was so easy to kill.”

“You have no idea how much I wanted to hear those words.  Not the kill part but everything else.  You’ve probably noticed how you’ve changed me and…”

“Yes, just before the First Order command center was bombed.  Christo…”

“That’s one instance.  I have a confession to make though.  I remember how you told me your planet died and I’ve recently seen the type of insidiousness of it working here in Kaja.  There was nothing I could do to stop it.  While I can never understand your anger or the things you had to go through, I had a taste of it and I am permanently soured because of it.”

“What happened?”

“I’ll tell you soon.  First, I hear you have formed a mercenary group.  I would like to hire you.”

“Nash, that’s not really nece-…”

“Yes or no?  Will you do this for me?”

“Of course I will but I’m not sure you know what you’re getting into.  Christo is one thing.  You shot him and left him for dead because you wanted to protect me.  This time it’s straight out murder, if I’m hearing you right.”

“That’s what I’m asking.  I know you can do it.”

“I can but that’s a giant leap for you to be making.  If your psyche can’t handle it, you will doom yourself.  There’s no going back.”

“I want it done.”

“You would be committing yourself to a lifetime of guilt.”

“I want it done.”

“It might not satisfy you when it’s over.”

“I have killed more in ten minutes than you have in your whole life, Brienne.”  Nash stated.  “I want it done.”  Brienne glared at her before nodding her head.

“Okay, but there’s something we have to do first.”

“What’s that?”

“Go to the beach.  I hear the peach flavored lobster is exquisite.”

“That took a turn.  I wasn’t expecting that.”

“First, peach flavored lobster.  Second, illegally murder a insidious conglomerate.”  Brienne said, counting on her fingers.

“Out of curiosity and while I’ve got you in a talking mood.  Who would you go back for on Parnassos?”

“Phasma.”  Brienne replied.  “My little brother.”

“I’ll never bring it up again.”

“Thank you.”

“So before we go tomorrow, let me tell you how to catch a lobster…”

 

 

Five days later, Nash waited for the Captain in the __Nautilus__ , Brienne’s new ship she had recently acquired for her expeditions the last few months.  It was an enormous, state-of-the-art ship with room for three hundred passengers and plenty of armored ground or air transports.  It wasn’t long before a person dressed entirely in black roughly dragged a man wearing only his undershorts and a blindfold into the ship.

“Any problems?”  Nash asked.

“None.”  Brienne said through the cotton fabric of her black mask.  “I found Crall in an illegal brothel.  People will have no idea where to look for him when he goes missing.”  Brienne pulled the blindfold off the man and he blinked under the bright lights of the medbay until he focused on Nash.

“What the fuck?  Nash Lyoka?  You’ve got to be kidding me!  I guess I really got your goad after the courts tossed y-…”  Crall Motta had nothing else to say once Brienne punched her fist into his soft belly.  He doubled over with a look of intense pain and surprise.

“You could be more respectful.”  Brienne told him.

“Who the fuck are you?”  He managed to squeak out.  She fisted his hair and pulled his head back to look her in the eye.

“I’m Captain Phasma.”  She told him.  The look he gave her told Nash he believed her.  “And my friend Nash tells me you’ve done some dirty things lately.  I’m here to rectify this injustice.”

“You can’t stop it!  The plans are already in motion.”  He said though he was clearly panicked.

“Anything can be stopped.  Ever hear of the First Order?  Now my investigations lead me to believe your father and everyone else on the board are cowards.  I hope they value their lives more than you valued yours.  Now read.”  The Captain handed him a datapad and Nash held a recorder to his mouth.

“I’m not readi-…”  Crall began.  Brienne put her knife up to his leg and sliced a giant incision across his thigh.  He screamed then immediately read the pad.

“If you’re listening to this, I’m already dead.  Oh my god…”  Crall cried.  Brienne held up her knife and he kept going.  “Our actions have warranted the notice of a vigilante group that will use harsher tactics than simple bribery or bureaucratic deficiencies.  Pull the contracts on the Eastern Lakeway or face further punishment.”  Crall read the entire datapad, stating the terms before ending out with a pathetic, whining cry.

“I hope this works.”  Nash said.

“It will.  His father is smarter than your acquaintance.  He has the right mixture of sense and cowardice.”

“Like I said, you’re great at reading people.  What are you going to do with him?”

“What would you like me to do with him?  This is your contract.”

“Please, Nash, I’ll do anything!”  Crall begged.  “Please don’t kill me!”  Nash watched him for a moment in disgust before picking up her hypo-injector of myocardial penticide.

“This is going to hurt.”  She said.

 

 

They ejected Crall’s body out of the airlock as soon as they reached orbit into empty space.  Nash had left her homeworld though she knew she would be making trips back in due time.  She could never leave for good.  She had an overwhelming sense of both excitability and apprehension at the future.  Brienne brought her new life, new perspective, new choices.  They were neither right nor wrong, just different and there was something Nash loved about that.  She went to the cockpit where Brienne was engaging the ship back into auto-mode.

“We’ll be picking up the others on Tatooine by tomorrow morning.”  Brienne told her still in her black stealth gear.  It was the first time Nash had ever seen her wear something other than a uniform or armor.  “Meantime, we have several contracts pending.  One of them is worth millions.”

“Oh?  Sounds risky.”

“Probably.  Have you had a chance to look over the ship?  What do you think of our quarters?”

“I’ve seen it.  It’s a lot fancier than I would have expected.  Do you think we’re jumping into this too quickly though?  Maybe I should have my own quarters.”

“You’re free to do as you like though I’m not sure what you mean.”

“We really don’t know each other.  Are you sure you want to share quarters?”

“We’ve known each other over five years now.”

“You know what I mean, Brienne.  We were together on __Starkiller__  for nine months and the entire time it was a secret.  We’ve been separated for two years twice.  Are you sure this is what you want?  Have you ever lived with someone before?”

“I’ve lived with many people.”

“The cave you grew up and the barracks don’t count.”

“Then, no, I have never chosen a specific person to live with before, if that’s what you’re getting at.”

“It’s a trying experience.”

“I’m a patient person.”

“No, you’re not.  You’re patient with me and you’re patient when it comes to work but you’re definitely not a patient person.”

“If you’re feeling apprehensive about it I will understand, but honestly, I was hoping you could spruce up our quarters with your decorative manner.”  Brienne said with an uptick to her lips.  She had no helmet on, no vocoder to speak through and yet sometimes it still sounded like she was a robot, even when she joked.

“I just wanted you to know what you’re getting into, that’s all.”

“Then you’ll share my bed?”  Brienne asked.  Nash rolled her eyes and came up to her, fingering the pocket of Brienne’s black cargo pants.

“Yes, of course.  But only if you teach me how to fight.”  Nash answered.  Brienne’s eyes lit up.

“If that’s what you want.”  She replied calmly, though Nash could see a hint of excitement forming.

“It is.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to anyone who read all the way up to this point! Sorry some points felt a little rushed. There were a few scenes that I was uninterested in writing but had to be written otherwise the plot would get more convoluted than it already is.


End file.
